Erza's Secret
by HeirToTheShadows
Summary: When Erza was little, she had a little sister named Mai. And when Erza was taken to the Tower of Heaven as slave labor, Mai was taken as a sacrifice. Erza has spent the past ten years mourning her sister, but what if Mai's alive? Eventual Gray x OC. Possible lemon in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- This is my first ever Fairy Tail fanfic. I really hope that you like it. R&R please! This idea popped into my head one day, and wouldn't go away, but I'm not sure if I should continue it. **

**Disclaimer- I don't own Fairy Tail, and never will. But if I ever do own Fairy Tail, everyone will know, because I'm a huge supporter of GaLe, and they would be together if I owned them. **

Chapter 1-

_I stood on a hill, watching the sun rise. I had come outside for one of the few constants in my life. The sun rose in the East. Spring followed winter. My little sister got sick. Those were my constants. Everything else could, and most likely would, change._

At the bottom of the hill, the door on a small cottage opened, and a little girl with scarlet hair to the middle of her back came out. She looked around, until she spotted me on the hill. Her small face burst into a smile, and she charged up the hill, frail body struggling to keep up with her desire.

"Nechan! Nechan!" she yelled, running towards me, "I'm all better, Nechan! You said after I got better, we could play if Okasan said so, and she did, so can we play now? Can we, Nechan, can we?"

I laughed, tucking my chin-length scarlet hair behind my ear, "Yes, Mai, we can play now."

Mai's smile grew even larger, until it seemed to take up her entire face, "Nechan, I want to be a knight! Can I be a knight? Will you be the princess that I need to rescue? You'll have to be the bad guys, too. Can we play that, Nechan?"

I smiled gently at her, "Sure, Mai, we can play that."

We played for hours, Mai defeating all of the bad guys, and slowly "climbing up the castle" to save the princess.

When Mai was about to "open the door" to the "room" where the Head Bad Guy, and the princess were, I gently suggested, "Mai, why don't we stop for now, and go get some lunch?" Mai thought about it for a minute, "We'll come back and rescue the princess, right Nechan?"

"Yes, we'll come back," I said, holding out my hand. She smiled, and took it.

Slowly, we walked up the hill, knowing our house was on the other side.

When we crested the hill, Mai and I saw, our house burning, and our parents outside, surrounded by wizards with swords.

"Okasan! Otosan!" Mai shouted in a tortured voice. She yanked her hand from mine, and ran down the hill to our parents.

"Erza! Stop her! Get Mai, and run!" shouted our mother. At her order, I charged down the hill after Mai.

Mai reached the bottom of the hill, and the circle if wizards around our parents.

The wizard that was obviously the leader said, "So you do have children, I see. Just as I suspected. We have no use for liars."

One of the wizards stepped forward, drawing a sword.

I felt my eyes widen, and saw Mai start to cry. "No!" we both screamed.

The leader of the wizards smiled, and nodded her head. The man with the sword raised and swung, coping off both of our parents heads off in one swing.

~No. No, no, no. They can't be dead. Who will take care of Mai? Who will take care of me?~ I thought quickly. It was like everything but my brain was stuck in slow-motion. ~Why did they do this? They killed them for having children. They wouldn't have known if Mai... Mai... This is Mai's fault.~

Robotically, I walked over to Mai, "This is your fault."

_Mai's eyes grew huge, and her tears streamed faster. She vigorously shook her head, denying my accusation._

"Yes it is, Mai! This is your fault!" I felt the tears slip from my eyes, "It's your fault that Okasan and Otosan are dead! It's all your fault!" My legs crumpled beneath me, and I collapsed to the ground sobbing.

"N-Nechan?" Mai hesitantly said, attempting to hug me.

"No! I'm not your sister anymore! I... I HATE YOU!" I screamed at her, hoping she would hurt as much as I did.

Everything about Mai seemed to stop. Her tears, her breathing, everything. "Y-you h-hate m-m-me?" she stuttered out.

~No. Much as I want to blame you, I can't hate you, Mai.~ I glared up at her, "Yes. Yes, I do, Mai. I hate you with everything I am."

Mai crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. She laid there staring at me in shock. It was obvious that I had hurt her, just as it was obvious that age needed someone at that moment to hold her, and tell her it would be alright. She needed me. I was the only family she had left now.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, Mai. I'm so sorry," I crawled toward her slowly, and carefully cradled her I'm my arms. Slowly, her arms came around my neck, and she clung to be like a burr.

"Much as I hate to interrupt your touching moment, you are both now my slaves. Come here at once," the leader said.

Quickly, I stood up, still holding Mai, "No!" I backed away from him.

_Still backing away, I bumped into someone. Whirling around, I lost my balance and fell to the ground. The man that I had backed into reached for me and Mai. I scrambled away afar as I could, but had forgotten that the leader was behind me._

The leader reached down, and grabbed my arm, hauling me to my feet.

"You are my slaves. You are coming with me. Men, separate them."

I fought, but soon, Mai was taken from me and brought to the leader, kicking and biting. "They're both feisty. That's good," the leader took Mai from the wizard holding her, and gasped, "The amount of magic power this girl has. She'll make a perfect sacrifice."

"Sacrifice!" I shouted, "No! Take me instead! Don't hurt Mai! Please!"

The leader gave me a considering look, then touched my head, "No, girl, I won't take that deal. Your sister is far more powerful then you are. You are weak, girl. You couldn't save your parents, and you can't save your sister. Welcome to the world of a slave."

Mai and I fought, the entire time we were being taken to the Tower of Heaven. We fought once we got there, too.

"Nechan!" Mai screamed as we were being dragged away from each other.

"Mai! I'll save you! I promise!" I shouted back, before being hit on the head, falling unconscious.

Erza bolted up in bed, covered in cold sweat, tears running down her face. She hadn't had that dream in years. It's not that she had ever forgotten Mai; it's just that she couldn't deal with the fact that she had failed her sister. No matter how hard she tried, Erza couldn't save her. Not only had she inadvertently killed her sister, but she had killed her parents. If she had just waited until Mai was done playing, her parents and Mai would be alive today.

She lowered her face to her hands, and requiped into her armor, feeling like she needed the protection. She sat there for nearly an hour, crying without the ability to stop.

Slowly, she swung her legs over the edge of her bed, and put her boots on. She stood up, and left Lucy's house through the window. She walked towards the guild, dragging her feet.

~Why? I haven't had that dream in years. Why did I have it today? Why did I dream of Mai? There is nothing I can do to save her. She's been dead for years. Why am I dreaming of her?~ Erza thought, entering the guild. Suddenly, she stopped walking, she froze. ~Is it... is it May 17th? Could it be May 17th?~

Quickly, Erza counted days in her head. It could be. It could be May 17th. Determination in her stride, she walked over to the closest person.

"Macao, what is the date today?" she demanded.

"U-um, it's the seventeenth today," Macao said.

She felt her shoulders sag, and suddenly had the urge to get mind-numbingly drunk. Not to forget, but to ease the hurt, to make the ache weaker, "Thank you, Macao."

Macao nodded nervously, and she walked away, sitting down at the bar. Mira walked past, placing a glass of sake in front of her.

"Mira?" Erza asked, confused, "How did you know?"

"You only get drunk one day of the year, Erza. It's not that hard to remember," Mira said with a gentle smile, "Oh, and whenever you're ready, I've got a job that I think you'll like."

"Thank you, Mira," Erza said, not only talking about the job.

Mira's smile grew larger, "No problem, Erza."

"What's up with Erza?" Lucy asked, sitting down at Natsu, Grey, Juvia, and Happy's table. This was the table that they typically sat at when they were going to choose a job.

Grey looked over at Erza, "I'm not really sure, but she gets like this occasionally. About once a year she just gets so drunk that she can't walk, and spends the rest of the day crying on Mira's shoulder, and apologizing to everyone. If she apologizes to you, just accept, because she won't stop until you say you've forgiven her."

"Okay," Lucy said, wondering what could cause Erza to get drunk and apologize once a year.

Lucy was still sitting there almost fourteen hours later, when Mira finally signaled Lucy to come over to where she was sitting, holding Erza. Slowly, hesitantly, Lucy walked over to Mira and Erza.

"She's done crying now. I would really appreciate it if you would take her home with you. I don't think she should be alone right now," Mira said with a smile.

Lucy sighed, "Of course, Mira-san."

Mira grinned, "In return, I'll keep Natsu, Happy, and Grey out of your house until Erza leaves."

Lucy smiled, "Thank you, Mira-san!"

Erza opened her eyes, and then closed them again quickly. The sunlight was stabbing into her brain.

"Good morning, Erza-san. Do you need hangover eggs?" an overly cheerful Lucy asked.

"What are hangover eggs, Lucy?" Erza asked with a grimace, sitting up carefully.

"Hangover eggs are eggs made a little bit worse then normal, because you'll either throw up, and then be fine, or you'll keep them down, and you'll be fine in about an hour." Lucy asked

"No, I don't. Thank you for offering though," Erza said.

Lucy walked into the room with a glass of water and some aspirin. Handing both to Erza, she sat on the edge of the bed, "Erza, if you don't mind me asking, what made you feel like you needed to get so drunk yesterday?"

"I've never told anyone, Lucy," Erza said quietly, "I'm not sure that you really want to know."

Lucy grabbed Erza's hand gently, "Erza, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know."

With a sigh, Erza took the aspirin, and started telling her, "When I was little, I lived in a small cottage with my parents. My mother had been born with an amazing amount of magic power, and became a wizard when she was about nine. She would make me look weak, that's how strong she was. My father was a freelance wizard, so he traveled a lot. My mother used to be a freelance wizard, too, but one day on a job, she got hurt badly, and she lost most of the magic power she had. My mother wasn't supposed to be able to have children after me, but four months before my eighth birthday, my mother announced that she was almost four months pregnant.

For four months, my father spent all of his time working, hoping to get enough to buy me a birthday present along with enough to take care of the baby. I had already told him that I was happy with a little sister, but he thought that I needed a real gift.

One week before my birthday, and one month early, my mother went into labor. My little sister was born extremely frail. Like my mother, my little sister was born with an impressive amount of magic power. But my sister was so strong, everyone doubted she would even reach nine. She was born with almost twice as much magic power as my mother, and she had no way to release her magic. So all of that power stayed inside until the doctors figured out that if she was sick, her magic would try to fix her, which would burn up her power along with healing her. And so, we made her sick. A lot.

One day, right after she had turned three, and just after she had gotten better, she came outside because she wanted me to play with her. I was about to turn eleven, but I was so happy that she was well that I was willing to. After a few hours, I thought that maybe she should eat lunch. She wasn't done playing, but I promised her that we would come back. So we were headed back to the house, when we saw a group of wizards surrounding our parents. Both of us were really worried, so Mai ran towards them. The wizards were from the Tower of Heaven, and they wanted to take my parents to work there as wizards. My parents, concerned about our lives, had agreed. When the leader asked them if they had any children, they had said no. When Mai came running down the hill, it proved that our parents were lying, and they killed them. I tried to take Mai and run, but they captured us, and discovered that Mai was very strong magically.

They decided that Mai would be a sacrifice, and that I would work to finish building the tower. When they were separating us, I promised Mai that I would save her. For weeks and weeks, I tried to save her. Since I was struggling to so hard to save her, and she was trying so hard to help me, they sacrificed her earlier then they had planned.

So, I killed my sister, and I killed my parents. Every year, I get drunk on Mai's birthday because I want to numb the pain. It hurts so badly, Lucy. I failed her." Erza once again started to cry, collapsing into Lucy's arms.

"There, there, everything's going to be okay," Lucy soothed.

My eyes opened, to see the same darkness that I had seen day after day, night after night. They same darkness that I had seen for as long as I could remember. But I knew that there was more then this. I knew that there was more in the world then darkness. Somewhere out there, beyond the darkness, there was a hill. And standing on that hill, watching the sun rise, was a little girl with an even littler sister, who had promised to save me.

Erza.

She would save me from the darkness.

She had promised, after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- Hey! Here's chapter two! Sorry that it's been so long since I updated, but it's been really hard for me to concentrate on this fic. I've been finding inspiration in practically everything. I bet I find it in my morning coffee. Not the point. **

**I'm going on hiatus, and I'm not sure when I'll be back on. It could be anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. It all depends on how a few things play out. **

**I want to thank Drake and ForeverAGuest for reviewing! You guys inspired me to continue this story, and now that I've finished the second chapter, I'm really glad you did.**

**ForeverAGuest- To answer your question, that is what is implied, correct? Lol, just kidding. Yes, but there is a problem that will be revealed in later chapters, probably four or five.**

**Thank you for your continued support, and for reading this fic!**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima. His awesomeness fills an entire room all on its own, while mine doesn't. If I owned Fairy Tail, though, Gajeel and Levy would be canon. xD**

Chapter 2-

Erza entered the guild, eyes red and sore, to see the same fight raging. It appeared to be nearing its end, as magic was already in use, but she didn't feel like stopping it today. She walked to the bar and sat down in front of Mira, ordering her usual breakfast. Mira smiled, and walked into the kitchen. While she was back there, the master broke up the daily confrontation, and everyone went back to their daily lives.

Mira came back with the plate of eggs and bacon, a glass of orange juice, and a job request. She put all three in front of Erza.

Taking a drink of her orange juice, Erza looked questioningly at the flyer. She swallowed, then looked at Mira, "What's this?"

Mira's smile dimmed, "I thought I already mentioned it to you. It's a job that I think you'll really like."

Erza read the flyer, then looked at Mira like she was crazy, "Why would I be excited about going through some dead man's stuff?"

Mira smirked, "It's who the dead man is. Do you remember who Count Drake is?"

Erza thought for a minute, then scowled, "Isn't he the man who was accused of helping fund the Tower of Heaven, but got away with it because there was no legal evidence?"

Mira nodded, "He's the dead man."

"So? I'm still not interested," Erza said, raising an eyebrow.

Mira's smile turned lethal, her voice sweet as sugar, "But Erza, your job would be to go through his things to find the skeletons in his closet, then tell everyone. Besides, this man was a wizard, and the Master is concerned there will be magic traps. He wants someone S-Class to take this job."

Erza sighed, defeated, "Alright, I'll go tell the team. We'll leave tomorrow morning."

Mira smiled, "Thank you, Erza."

Erza grabbed her breakfast and the flyer, and crossed the room until she reached the table that Happy, Natsu, Gray, and Lucy were sitting at, eating their own breakfasts.

"Good morning, Erza," Lucy said. Gray, Natsu, and Happy nodded, too busy eating to say anything.

Erza sat down, "Guys, I'm going on a mission tomorrow morning. I'll be going through all the belongings in a mansion for the new owner, looking for magic or cursed items. There won't be any fighting, but if you want to come with me you can."

"What's the reward?" Lucy asked.

"I'm not sure, I haven't looked yet," Erza said. She looked down, read the reward, and choked on the orange juice she was drinking.

Everyone at the table looked at Erza in concern as she panted. "Well?" Lucy finally asked.

Erza looked at them all in shock, "According to the flyer, the new owner is willing to pay each person in the group 250,000 jewels."

"WHAT!" they all shouted.

"Since no one has been in the house since the previous owner, Count Drake, died, the new owner is scared to go in. Count Drake was renowned for setting traps all over his mansion. It also says that if we find a magic item we like, we can take it instead of the reward, or as part of our reward, depending on it's worth," Erza read.

Lucy looked confused, "How are we supposed to know how much it's worth?"

"We don't need to," Erza said, setting down the request, "He owns The Stars and Beyond."

The Stars and Beyond was a chain of magic stores. It was renowned for not only selling every type of magic item there was, along with having the newest items, but for giving you a fair price for it, whether you were buying or selling. It was called The Stars and Beyond because it was the magic store most likely to have Celestial Spirit keys.

"I'm in," Lucy enthused.

"So am I," Gray said.

"I'm getting fired up!" Natsu shouted.

"Aye!" cheered Happy around his fish.

"Good," said Erza, finally eating her breakfast.

As they all finished their breakfasts, Natsu looked around, "Anybody interested in taking a request near town?"

Lucy looked thoughtful, then turned to Erza, "How long do you think we'll be gone?"

Erza looked at the name of the town listed on the flyer, "We're going to Connelly. The fastest way there is by train, but even on a train, it'll take a week. Then, the flyer says that based upon the size of the mansion, it'll take about a week to search it, then another week to get back. So, all in all, a minimum of three weeks, and I'd guess closer to four." By this point, Natsu looked so nauseous that he might pass out at any moment.

With a sigh, Lucy stood up, "I guess I better go pack."

Gray stood up as well, "Lucy's right. We should all go pack. I'm probably going to have to do laundry." "If Gray-sama wants, Juvia will help him pack!" Juvia said from the take next to theirs.

Gray thought for a minute, then nodded, "Okay, you can help. Thanks, Juvia. When are we leaving tomorrow?"

"Your train leaves tomorrow at 10 a.m. You guys are on a sleeper train," Mira said as she appeared out of nowhere to take the dishes from the table.

"Thanks, Mira-san!" Lucy said.

Mira smiled, then walked away. "So, we'll all meet at the station tomorrow at 9:30," Erza said, also standing.

"Aye!" Happy shouted. Natsu just moaned, face on the table.

With a laugh Lucy left to go start getting packed, soon followed by Gray and Juvia.

Erza sat back down, gently rubbing Natsu's spine, "Natsu, if you want to stay, you can."

Natsu looked up at her, "We're Fairy Tail's strongest team. I'm going. We're all going together."

Erza smiled gently, "Alright, see you in the morning."

Erza walked slowly back to Fairy Hills, planning what she would pack, when she heard a giggle-like chatter down an alleyway. She requiped so her sword was out, then slowly walked down the alleyway.

"Hello?" Erza called out quietly, "Is anyone there?"

She followed the sound down into the alleyway, and around a corner. There in the shadows of the little square dead end, was a large snake, about three feet long. Its skin was mottled grays and black, and it blended into the shadows so well that the only reason Erza saw it was because it was moving. With a sigh, she requiped her sword away, "I guess the dream has me all jumpy."

Erza turned to walk away, but turned back to the snake, ~I can't just leave it here. It reminds me of something... something important. I'll take it home with me.~

Carefully, Erza picked up the snake, and brought it back home with her to Fairy Hills.

Once there, she crossed the room to a terrarium she had in a shadowy corner, "Well, snake this is your new home. Maybe I should name you."

Erza placed the snake in the terrarium, thinking about names. The snake slithered over to the darkest corner, and stopped moving, blending perfectly into the shadows once again. With a laugh, Erza stated, "Well I guess I might as well call you Shadow. I'll go get food for you."

Erza crossed to her fridge, and opened it, looking for something suitable for a snake. All she could find was some ground beef. Carefully, she removed some from the package, and placed it on a paper plate. She put water in a bowl, carried both to the terrarium, and placed them inside.

Erza smiled as Shadow attacked the meat, "Well, Shadow, I have to go on a mission for a few weeks. I'm going to the mansion of a man I hate. I'm supposed to go through his belongings. I better get someone to check on you while I'm gone, huh? I'll ask Lisanna. She should be in her room still."

Erza crossed the hallway to Lisanna's room. Gently, she knocked, "Lisanna?"

Lisanna opened the door, "Yes, Erza?"

"I'm going on a mission for a few weeks, and I recently acquired a snake. Would you check on it while I'm gone?" Erza asked.

Lisanna smiled, "Sure, Erza. I'll come over tomorrow morning to start with."

"Thank you. Here's a key to my room," Erza said, handing her a key, then crossed to her room to pack.

All day long, Erza packed. Finally, at 11 p.m., she finished packing, "Good night, Shadow." Then Erza collapsed on the bed.

She sat in the darkness, like always. Unlike always, she couldn't find Cameotheron. Cameotheron was her only friend in the darkness. This morning, Cameotheron had gone to hunt, and hadn't returned. She was slowly beginning to worry.

A slithering noise filled the dark room.

"Cameotheron! You're back!" she cheered. The slithering noise grew louder, until the snake ended up in her lap. For a few minutes, the snake hissed at her.

"It's all right, Cameotheron. It's fine. So someone is coming here?" she asked the snake in her lap.

The snake hissed again, and she grew confused, "What do you mean, the girl coming here looks a lot like me?"

The snake hissed again, and the girl's brows furrowed, "Did you hear her name?"

The snake hissed again, but much shorter this time. The girl's eyes widened in shock, "Erza? D-Did you just say Erza?"

The snake hissed. She felt a smile burst into her face, "Cameotheron, she's finally coming! She's coming to save me!" She laughed in glee for a minute, then grew scared, "Wait, she's coming here? Cameotheron, you have to stop her!"

The snake hissed, sounding angry. She crossed her arms, "Yes, I know it will take you a long time to get there, and use up lots of your energy. But you have to stop her! It's too dangerous here!"

The snake hissed, then slithered out of her lap. Soon, the slithering sound was gone.

"Thank you, Cameotheron. Thank you for saving her. I'd rather have her alive for years, then dead because she tried to save me again.

Erza woke up, feeling groggy. She grabbed her alarm clock, and glanced at the time. 8:54 a.m.

~Wasn't I supposed to do something today?~ Erza thought, sitting up. She looked around, and noticed all of her luggage. ~Oh, shit! The train!~

She quickly requiped into her armor, grabbed her stuff, and ran for the train station.

She reached the station at 9:28, panting and pulling her stuff.

Everyone else was already there. They waited for fifteen minutes, then boarded the train.

Fifteen minutes later, the train pulled out of the station.

~Why do I have such a bad feeling about this mission?~ Erza thought as she watched Magnolia fade into the distance.

Cameotheron slithered out of the shadows, and into Erza's terrarium. He looked around, and knew she was gone. He ate the rest of the meat, then slithered back through the shadows, back to his Mistress.

Lisanna unlocked the door to check on the snake. She looked all around, but didn't see a snake anywhere. With a sigh, she left locking the door behind her.

She sat in the darkness, waiting for the return of Cameotheron. She would wait. She could wait forever. It was what she did best after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N- So, I was planning to wait until Tuesday to upload this, but then I realized that this chapter had no Mai in it. So I wrote a short thing for her at the end, and I liked it so much I just had to upload this chapter. For anyone who hasn't visited my profile, I'm planning to update every Tuesday, and, lucky for you, there will be another chapter on Tuesday! **

**For anyone who was wondering, Cameotheron (Mai's snake) is a combination of two Greek names, Cameo and Theron. Cameo means Shadow, and Theron means Hunter. I guess Erza was right, lol.**

**I want to thank SasuTenNeji Love, Killer Moon Lover, and ForeverAGuest for reviewing!**

**ForeverAGuest- Thank you for saying my fic is epic, lol! You called me Shadow. O.o I didn't know I was Erza's snake…**

**Disclaimer- Once upon a time, this guy was sitting around. A wonderful idea came to him, and quickly he drew it out. That idea was Fairy Tail. I am not that man. I'm not a man at all. That man was Hiro Mashima, and until I'm that man, I will not own Fairy Tail.**

Chapter 3-

_My eyes fluttered open. I sat up, and looked around. Based upon the light streaming through the window, I had missed the sunrise by almost an hour. It was okay though. Even though I was still tired from staying up so late, it was worth it. I had stayed up to finish Mai's birthday present, and I had._

I stood up, and walked to where I had put her gift the night before. Carefully, I picked it up, and exited my room. I walked down the short hallway to Mai's room, and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Mai called out in a raspy voice I barely heard. After that, she broke into a fit of coughing.

"Happy third birthday, Mai," I said as I walked into her bedroom.

She looked terrible. Her long, red hair was stringy and slightly greasy. Her face was clammy, flushed, sweaty, and faintly green. Her nose was running, she had dark bags under her eyes, and she looked like she may faint or puke at any moment. She had a sheen of sweat on all of her visible skin, but she was visibly shivering, even under three quilts.

"Thanks, Nechan," she rasped out, voice barely louder then a whisper.

I walked over and kissed her forehead, noticing as I did so how hot it was. She was feverish.

"I made you a present," I told her, sitting next to her.

A tremulous smile grew on her face, "Nechan, you didn't have to do that. Your birthday is in a week. I can't make you a present."

"Silly, Mai," I said, grabbing her hand gently, "All I want for my birthday is for you to get better."

Mai laughed, which caused her to cough uncontrollably for a few minutes. Finally, she smiled up at me, "I'll try, Nechan."

"Do you want to see your present?" I asked, hopeful.

Carefully, Mai nodded, sitting up a little straighter in bed.

I pulled the leather-bound book out of the pocket of my dress, handing it to Mai.

Gently, Mai stroked the cover, and asked excitedly, "A book?"

"Yeah," I said, "Since you read so much, I made you a book."

Mai looked thoughtful, "Isn't this the journal Otosan bought for you on your last birthday?"

At my nod, her eyes widened, "But you've been writing in it all year!" I nodded again. Incredulously, she stared at me, "You've been working on my present all year?" Another nod, "Why?"

I felt my cheeks heat up, and knew I was blushing. I looked away from her face, "Because I forgot last year."

Mai kept stroking the cover, "What's it about?"

I smiled gently, "It's all your favorites. It's all your favorite fairy tales, and all your favorite stories I made up for you."

With a shocked look on her face, Mai started flipping through the book.

"There are pictures," Mai smiled, "Did Okasan draw these?"

"Yeah. I asked her to help with the pictures," I admitted.

Mai stared at the picture of a princess about to kiss a frog, "One day, I want to draw as good as Okasan."

"As well," I instantly corrected, "And you will, Mai. One day, you will be so good at drawing that you'll be as famous as Okasan."

Mai smiled, then sneezed into her elbow. "I'll keep it with me forever," she said.

Gently, Mai closed the book. She continued to stroke the cover, and sighed, "I wish I was like the girls in these stories."

"What?" I teased good-naturedly, "A princess?"

"No," she shook her head adamantly, and then gazed longingly out the window, "Able to go outside."

I thought quickly, still confused, "What do you mean?"

She looked at me sadly, and sighed again, "I've never been outside."

I gently took her hand from the book, "Once you get better, as long as Okasan says its okay, I will take you outside, and we'll play, alright?"  
  
"Erza."

_"Really, Nechan?" Mai beamed. I nodded._

"Erza."

_"Thank you, Nechan, thank you!" she hugged me as tightly as her frail arms could. Quickly, my arms went around her, and I rested my cheek on the top of her head._

"I love you, Mai," I said.

"Erza!"

_"I love you more, Nechan," she said._

I smiled, "I love you most."  
  
"ERZA!"

Erza opened her eyes with a snap, requiping so her sword was out, "What happened? Is anybody hurt?"

Lucy stared at her like she was crazy, "No. We're here."

"We're where?" Erza said as she requiped so her sword was away, then started rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Connelly," Lucy stated, rolling her eyes, "We're arriving at the station in five minutes. We're supposed to gather our belongings and wait by the doors. We all figured I should wake you up."

"Thank you, Lucy," Erza said, standing up.

Quickly, she gathered her things and went to stand with Lucy, Happy, and Gray. Natsu was lying on the seat next to them, barely conscious.

"We have arrived at Connelly Station! Please exit the train in an orderly fashion!" a voice echoed through the speakers as the train stopped.

Erza picked up Natsu, who was still nauseous. Slowly, all of the passengers getting off exited the train, Erza last.

Once they were off, the train pulled out of the station. Natsu jumped up, feeling fine now that he was off the train, "Where are we?"

"Connelly. This is the town the client lives in. The mansion itself is an hour-long drive outside of town," Erza said, causing Natsu to moan. She turned to Lucy, Gray, and Happy, "What time is it? We're supposed to meet the client at his house at one-thirty."

Gray looked at his watch, "its twelve-fifty-six. You have directions, right?"

"Better," Erza said, pulling a scrap of paper from her pocket and handing it to Lucy, "I have a map."

They all put their belongings on Erza's cart, and started walking towards the client's house. After about twenty minutes of walking, and getting lost once, even with the map, they finally stood outside the client's home.

It was three stories high, made of dark wood, and had many windows. Since it was a town house, it had a tiny lawn, but the lawn was well cared for. There were many flower beds, and outside, a grubby young woman was gardening. Her black hair was pulled into a low, messy ponytail, and her skin had a thick coating of dust and dirt.

Erza confidently walked over to the gardener, "Excuse me, miss, we're here to see Mr. Tanaka."

The gardener looked up at Erza, and smiled. Her eyes were purple, "Sure, I can take you to him."

The gardener stood, brushed off her pants, and walked to the door, gesturing for them to follow her.

At a leisurely pace, she led them down a long hallway, around a corner, and down another hallway. About halfway down the corridor she stopped, "That door is to his study. He's in there right now. He'll take you to the dining room."

Lucy smiled, "Thank you."

"Aye!" Happy cheered.

The gardener smiled, and walked away. Erza walked to the closed door, and gently knocked.

"Come in!" a deep baritone voice called.

Erza opened and held the door for her team. Happy flew in first, followed by Natsu, then Lucy. Gray went last, and as he passed her, he gave her a small smile and a nod. Erza shut the door behind her, and turned to face the room.

There were books everywhere. The room was about the size of a large bedroom. Every wall was covered in floor-to-ceiling bookcases. Books that wouldn't fit on the shelves were carefully stacked behind his desk under the large window seat.

His desk sat about ten feet from the door. Across from him was a perfectly centered couch, with a matching armchair on each side. Natsu and Happy were sprawled in one of the chairs, while Lucy and Gray sat on the couch. Erza walked over and sat in the last chair.

Mr. Tanaka, their client, sat across from them. He had thinning salt-and-pepper hair, and a thin mustache. Despite being about fifty, he looked around forty, with sharp green eyes. He wore a well tailored black suit. Confidently, he stood up and shook each of their hands, "I would like to thank you for accepting this job. You're from Fairy Tail, correct?"

"Yes," Gray stated.

"Do you have any questions?" Mr. Tanaka asked, sitting back down in his seat.

"It says on the request sheet that you suspect this job to take at least a week," Erza said, "Where are we supposed to stay while here?"

"You're welcome to stay here," he said, "but you can stay in the house if you wish. Or, if you would prefer, you can stay at the local hotel. I would pay, of course."

Before she could answer, Erza felt a strong gaze on her. She looked in the direction of the gaze, and found Natsu giving her a pleading look. She turned back to their employer, "We'll stay at the house."

Mr. Tanaka nodded, "Alright. Will you be staying here tonight, or going straight there?"

"Going straight there, sir," Erza said immediately.

"Ah, the impotence of youth," their employer smiled, "Then before you leave, I would like to give you these." He picked up four bundles, and handed one to each person. "In each package are blueprints of the mansion. That way you can mark off rooms you've already checked, and not accidentally keep checking the same room. Also in each package is a communicator. It's a new magic item that hasn't even hit stores yet. I purchased them in a group of five. Each of you has one, and I have one. If you need to get a hold of me, or you need to talk to someone in another part of the house, you use these. You have to use your magic though, like the magic carts."

"Thank you," Erza said.

Their employer smiled, "When you are done checking the mansion, I will give you my communicator, and you may keep them as a gift."

Erza bit her lip, "Sir, you're being overly generous."

"That's just the kind of man I am," Mr. Tanaka said, "Now, are there any more questions?"

"Do you have any idea what kind of traps are in there?" Gray asked.

"According to people that have worked there, Count Drake had both physical and magical traps that did anything and everything from put you to sleep, to dropping you in a pit, to injuring you," he replied.

"Are we just supposed to find the curses and traps, or disable them?" Lucy asked, crossing her legs.

"If you believe that you're able to disable the trap, you can. If you can't disable it, that's fine. After you leave, I've hired a curse specialist to remove the cursed items. Do not attempt to remove the curses," their employer stated adamantly.

Erza looked around and saw that no one else had any questions, "I think that's it."

All five people stood, and Happy hovered. Mr. Tanaka walked them out of the house. When they got to the front door, he stopped Erza, "Don't hesitate to ask me for anything you need while in there."

"We won't, sir," Erza said, saluting. He laughed.

"No need to salute, young lady. Over there," he pointed to her in front of her and slightly to her left, "Is a magic cart. I rented it for you all to get to the mansion. Just bring it here when you are done."

"Of course," Erza smiled.  
She walked into the yard, where Natsu and Happy were wondering if the flowers were edible, Gray was looking at one of the trees, and Lucy was talking to the gardener who had shown them inside earlier about one of the flowers she had never seen before.

"Oh, that's a tiger lily. They only grow here. Something about the dirt here makes them thrive. They won't grow anywhere else," the gardener said, obviously happy to be able to tell someone all about her favorite plant.

"Levy-chan would love these," Lucy muttered to herself happily.

"Who's Levy?" the gardener asked.

"Hm? Oh, she's my best friend," Lucy beamed.

"If you want," the gardener hesitantly said, "I can put some in a pot with some dirt from the garden. Then you can bring her some."

"You'd do that?" Lucy asked. The gardener smiled and nodded. Lucy squealed and hugged her, "Thank you! I would love that!"

The gardener blushed faintly, "Oh, it's nothing. I'll write out their care instructions, and you can pick them up when you come to get your reward."

"Alright!" Lucy enthused.

"Lucy, Gray, Natsu, Happy," Erza said, grabbing all of their attention, "It's time to go."

"Bye, Adora!" Lucy beamed.

Faintly, the gardener smiled, "Bye, Lucy."

Erza had already hooked up her cart of luggage, and everyone else was already in the magic cart when she heard Mr. Tanaka's voice speak again, "Adora, it's time for you to come inside and have lunch."

Adora sighed, "Fine, Papa. I'm coming."

~Adora is Mr. Tanaka's daughter? I didn't see that one coming...~ Erza thought. She sat down on the front of the cart, and hooked up the magic plug. Just before she started moving, Gray came and sat next to her.

"Erza? I have a... weird feeling about this mission," he said, looking worried.

"Gray, put your shirt back on," Erza said calmly, while he gasped and quickly pulled it back over his head, "What do you mean, weird feeling?"

Gray shook his head, "I'm not sure. Just this weird feeling. It's kind of like something big is going to happen."

Erza looked at him, "Any idea if it's a good thing or a bad thing?"

"No," Gray said sadly, and then grinned, "I guess all that time with Cana rubbed off on me."

Erza laughed, but inwardly, she was worried. ~Please be a good thing...~

She sat in the darkness and stroked the book she never got to read. Cameotheron had gone hunting again, so she was all alone.

"Nechan..." she whispered brokenly, tears streaming down her face, "I don't want to be alone anymore. I need you to save me after all."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N- OMG! Ga… Ga…. Ga… Gajeel was… was… was…. Wearing a…. oh my god! **

**For anyone confused, I spent all yesterday catching up in the manga, (I had gotten to the Grand Magic Games, but hadn't read it yet) and when I saw Gajeel with a headband, I fangirled all over the place… I'm talking a ridiculous amount of fangirling. My roommate thought I had gone insane…**

**I want to thank Drake and animerose11 for reviewing! **

**I want to thank all of my readers… somehow, in the past week, you guys have overrun my other stories to claim the title of "Most Read". This is now my most popular story. :3**

**Drake: Lol, oops! Nope I didn't, and I kinda feel bad now, because Count Drake is Eeeeeevviiiilllll.**

**Disclaimer- Hiro Mashima is far too awesome to be me. Mashima~san is better in every way. AHH! GAJEEL IN A HEADBAND! 3**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter Four-

Erza stopped the magic cart at the iron gates of the mansion and gaped. ~He expects us to finish THAT in a week...?~

"That" was the mansion. The house was so big it barely qualified for that name. The driveway was a mile long, but even from here, the house was monstrous. It was ten stories of dark red brick, with decorative ivy crawling up one wall. The house had hundreds of windows on the side Erza could see alone. And if the house was that big, she didn't even want to _think_ about how large the estate was...

"Hey, why have we stopped?" Lucy asked, peeking out the window, and then engaging in the same activity as Erza.

"YES! WE'VE STOPPED! WE'RE FINALLY HERE!" Natsu shouted, leaping out of the cart, and waking Gray.

Happy followed him out of the cart, "AYE, SIR!" Happy looked toward the house, and fell, his wings disappearing in shock.

"I'm never riding in a... Holy shit," Natsu, too, gaped at the house.

Gray rubbed his eyes, yawning, "Are we there?" He moved his hand from his face and saw the house. "Wow. That's bigger then I thought it would be." He looked around, and saw his entire team gaping like idiots.

"Hey!" he shouted, trying to get there attention; when that didn't work, he pulled a low blow, "You all look like Flamebrain! Totally idiotic!"

"What did you just call me, Droopy Eyes!?" Natsu challenged, wreathed in fire.

"Oh, shut up, you two!" Lucy complained.

"Aye," Happy said, rolling his eyes.

Erza shook off her shock, and opened the gate. It let out a huge shriek. ~Well, he'll need to get that fixed.~ she thought, "Everyone back in the cart."

Lucy, Happy, and Gray sighed, getting back in the cart. They were sick of traveling. Natsu moaned, but got back in when Erza glared at him.

~Finally here,~ she sighed happily, ~Then we can finally do our job...~

She was stroking Cameotheron when she heard the gate shriek, "Did you here that?"

Cameotheron hissed. "Don't take that tone with me. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't imagining things."

~Nechan, be careful. Don't step on the griffon...~

Erza stopped the cart, and unconnected herself, "We're here. You guys can come out now."

"FREEDOM!" Natsu shouted, jumping from the cart and running around excitedly. Erza rolled her eyes, smiling.

Lucy came out next, and walked around slowly, obviously stretching stiff muscles. Happy flew out and chased Natsu, yelling something about looking for fish.

Gray stepped out of the cart and walked over to her, "What's our plan?"

Erza looked at him, "We need to figure out where we're going to stay, and where the kitchen is. We'll talk more after that."

Gray nodded and walked toward the house, "OI, FLAMEBRAIN, WE'RE GOING INSIDE!"

"SHUT UP, ICEHEAD!" Natsu shouted, but, nonetheless, he started walking towards them. Once the entire group was over by the doors, Erza got out the keys that she had found in her package, and unlocked the front door.

She walked through the front doors, looking around the expensive foyer.

The floor was pale marble, with little blue veins. The room was huge, about the size of the guild hall. The walls were paneled with cherry wood, and the ceiling went to the very top of the house, where there was a huge skylight. On each story, there was a walkway on three sides of the room with what looked like golden banisters. At the end of the room was a spiral staircase that went all the way up to the top floor. On the walls hung numerous paintings of Count Drake. In the very center of the huge room, inlaid on the floor, was a detailed picture of a gryphon head.

"Wow," Lucy said, walking into the mansion, "This is really nice. Even my father couldn't afford all this."

"Really?" Gray asked, looking around, "It doesn't seem that expensive."

Erza and Lucy sighed at his cluelessness, as Natsu and Happy entered the mansion, "Whoa! Happy this guy was loaded!"

"Aye," Happy agreed looking around incredulously.

"Lucy," Erza said; Lucy looked over at her from where she was admiring a statue of Artemis, a questioning look on her face, "You know houses like this the best. We need to find the kitchen and bedrooms. Where should we be looking?"

Lucy thought for a few minutes, "The kitchen will be on the ground floor, and in the back of the house. Family and guest bedrooms will most likely be on the third or forth floor. Servant bedrooms will probably be on the very highest floor."

"If we split up, we'll find everything we need faster," Happy said.

"Yeah," Natsu said, "Let's split into three teams!"

"Three? Why would we need three?" Erza asked, eyebrow raised. Gray and Lucy also looked at him like he was crazy.

Natsu started wiggling like a five-year-old, "Cause I need to use the bathroom."

"Well, he's been barely able to move for the past week," Lucy shrugged, "I guess it makes sense."

"Gray and I will find the kitchen," Erza said, crossing her arms, "Natsu will go find the nearest bathroom; Lucy and Happy will go find bedrooms. We'll all meet back here. Whenever you've found whatever you are to find, come back here immediately," Erza looked at her group, noticing how badly Natsu was wiggling, "Except for Natsu. He'll go to the bathroom first. Okay, move out!"

They all started heading in different directions, Natsu to the left corridor, Erza and Gray to the right corridor, and Lucy and Happy across the room towards the stairs.

Lucy quickly crossed the room, Happy flying. Lucy took one step, her left foot hitting the griffon insignia in the floor, and the whole griffin cracked and broke, revealing a giant hole in the floor.

"Aah!" Lucy shouted, falling into the hole.

"Lucy!" Erza, Gray, and Natsu all leaping for the hole, knowing that there was no way they could get there fast enough.

Happy, thinking fast, whipped his tail around Lucy's waist, and pulled backward Hard. Lucy then fell backwards, landing on her but, foot still dangling over the hole.

"T-Thanks, H-Happy," Lucy stuttered out.

"No problem!" Happy cheered.

"I'msogladyou'reokayLucy!" Natsu shouted from by the left corridor, "Igottagofindthebathroom!"

As Natsu was running away from the room, Erza and Gray walked over to the hole.

"Are you okay, Lucy?" Erza asked, kneeling next to her.

"Yeah. I thought I was going to die, though," Lucy clutched her knees to her chest, "Have you looked in the hole yet?"

"No," Erza said. She crawled to the edge of the trap, and looked down into the dark. As her eyes adjusted, she grew appalled.

The room was a square, with no doors or windows, no way out. The entire floor was covered in ten foot tall steel spikes. The actual floor was twenty five feet down, so by the time you hit the spikes, there was no way to avoid being impaled. There were bones, organs, and dried blood scattered all over the floor, walls, and spikes. Erza felt her stomach heave, and she crawled away as fast as she could.

"Oh my god, Lucy," she mumbled out, shaking.

Lucy crawled over to her, and they clutched each other, "I know."

"What's in the pit?" Gray asked, walking to the edge.

"Gray, don't!" Lucy shouted.

Gray ignored her, and looked into the hole. After a few minutes of staring, he turned back to look at them, "That man was fucked up."

Erza and Lucy nodded, standing. Erza looked at them, "Okay, let's all go back to what we were doing."

She felt the hot blood doing from her hands. She has already set her broken finger bones, and they had already set. She had pounded against the wall, hoping one of the many people she had heard would hear her, but none had. That evil jerk had cast his spells well. She just had to hope that someone would go by the ventilation shafts for now. If she was lucky, she would learn one of their names, and could contact them telepathically with the necklace Cameotheron brought back. But until then, all she could do was send a vague dream, and hope one would pick it up.

It was around nine p.m. when Erza looked around at the group in the kitchen with her, "How about we call it a day? We're all tired, and we've deactivated all the traps in the kitchen, bedrooms, and bathroom. It's livable now."

"I'm with Erza," Lucy said, "And we're all exhausted. We might miss something if we go look for more right now."

"I think you two are right," Gray said, then looked toward Natsu and Happy, "What about you two?"

Natsu and Happy were both passed out in a chair by the heater, sprawled in a way that suggested they wouldn't be waking up soon.

"I'll take that as a yes," Erza said faintly sarcastically. She walked over, and picked up Natsu while Lucy picked up Happy. Slowly, they walked out of the room, down the corridor to the foyer, up the stairs to the second floor, and to the first room.

"We'll put Natsu and Happy in here," Erza said, opening the door. Going by the moonlight, she walked to the bed and placed Natsu down gently. Lucy, right behind her, did the same with Happy. They quietly left the room, shutting the door behind them.

"I'll take the room next to Natsu's," Erza said, "Gray, I'd like for you to have the one across from Natsu, and Lucy the one across from me."

Gray nodded, "Night." He crossed the hallway, opened his door, and went inside.

"Good night, Erza." Lucy said, pausing at her door.

"Good night, Lucy," Erza said back. They both went into their rooms.

Erza shut the door, and changed into her pajamas. She brushed out her hair, and crawled into bed, ~Good night, everyone. Stay safe till morning.~

Gray was dreaming. That was the only way he could be walking on nothing but air. All around him, there was nothing but gray, his namesake. Everything was the exact same shade of gray as far as the eye could see. All of a sudden, there was another person there with him.

She looked to be about twelve or thirteen, frail, and weak. She was pale, with huge dark brown eyes, and long scarlet locks. He couldn't tell how long it was because it seemed to be blowing in a wind he couldn't feel. Her long plain white dress came to her knees, and blew in the same wind. Her only ornamentation was a silver locket.

"Hello?" Gray called out, "Where are we?"

The girl looked at him in shock, "You can see me?"

"Of course I can," he snapped, "You're right there."

"You shouldn't be able to see me," she mumbled.

"Just tell me where we are," Gray commanded.

"Jeez, no need to get so bossy!" she exclaimed, "We're in your dreamscape."

"My what?" Gray asked, eyebrows raised.

She rolled her eyes, "Your dreamscape. Where your dreams are made. This part of yourself controls your ability to dream."

"But I'm not dreaming. I would never dream of floating around in a bunch of nothing, and taking to someone I've never met," Gray replied.

"Yes. Which is why your but supposed to be able to see me," the girl replied.

"If this is my brain, what are _you_ doing here?" Gray asked, confused.

"I was trying to do a Sending, but it seems I'm here instead," the girl said, frowning, hands on her barely existent hips.

"Any idea why?" Gray asked.

"Not unless you tell fortunes," she said, sighing.

"No, but I've spent a lot if time around someone who does," he replied.

"Maybe that's why," she mumbled.

They stood there for a minute, until Gray finally spoke up, "What's a Sending, anyway?"

"It's a message sent through a dream," the girl replied, "You have to repeat the message for days before the person your sending to gets the message, though."

Gray smiled, "That's pretty cool. So what's the message?"

"I don't know anymore," she said, scowling at the ground, "I'm asleep too, and you distracted me. I don't remember my message."

"That's terrible," Gray said, frowning, "I'm sorry."

She looked back at him, "It's fine."

They stood for a few minutes more. "Hey, what's your name?" Gray asked.

The girl looked at him, and her eyes filled with tears, "I don't know."

"What do you mean?" Gray asked.

Tears slipped down her cheeks, "As far as I know, I don't have one."

"That can't be- Hey! Why are you fading?!" Gray shouted.

She smiled sadly, "You're waking up. Good bye, for now."

"No! I don't want t-"

Gray opened his eyes, and felt tears on his face, ~Huh? Why am I crying?~

She opened her eyes, and looked toward where she had left Cameotheron.

"It's okay, Theron. I'll save you. You can finally live your life in the light."

She walked over and gently picked him up without waking him, "I need you most, after all."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N- Wow, this is the longest chapter yet… I'm so proud of myself! X3 So I have good news and bad news. Good news- Next chapter is the sister reunion! Bad news- There isn't going to be a new chapter next week because I'm going to working on oneshots. Enjoy the chapter! **

**Hey, did anyone watch the newest episode/read the newest chapter?**

**Disclaimer- If I was Hiro Mashima, do you really think I would be writing Fairy Tail fanfiction?**

Chapter 5-

_"Please, doctor, isn't there anything you can do?" my mother said, clinging to my little sister like a lifeline. The baby was too powerful. She was burning up from the inside. Her power was fighting to get out, but she hadn't developed the path the magic needed to follow yet. That's what the doctor had said. He had also said that if my little sister didn't develop that path within the next year, she would die._

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but there's nothing else I can do."

My sister struggled to get down, and my mother, tears in her eyes, set her on the floor. My adorable nine month old sister crawled off to the other end of the hallway. I saw her pick something up, and play with it for a minute before setting it down.

"Do you have any suggestions on how we can speed the process on this path?" my father asked quietly.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't."

My sister stared at her legs for a minute before crawling over to a table. She grabbed the leg of the table and pulled herself up. Wobbling just a little bit, she took a step.

"Okasan..." I said, pulling on the hem of her shirt.

"Not now, Erza," she replied.

My sister took another step, letting go of the table, "But Okasan, Mai's walking."

"What?!" my mother and father both whipped around at the same moment to see Mai take her third step. But their turning caused another thing. Mai, scared, fell to the floor.

She hit the ground and there was a squishing noise. Her eyes filled with tears, and she started sobbing, holding up the hand that had caused her pain. There, in her hand, was a rusty nail. And as we watched, the nail started to slowly push itself out. The blood soaked nail exited her hand, and dropped to the floor with a loud sound in the ensuing silence.

The puncture in Mai's hand bled furiously for a minute, and then suddenly, it stopped. As we watched, the muscles in Mai's hand grew back together, then the skin. After it was over, Mai smiled and crawled off, totally unperturbed, as if this happened all the time.

"Excuse me, sir, ma'am, but I think I have an idea."  
  
Erza sat up in bed, panting. ~Why? Every night I dream of Mai. Why?!~

She crawled out of bed, got dressed, and went down to the kitchen.

She opened the door, and was surprised when she saw Gray standing there, obliviously staring out the window.

"Good morning, Gray," Erza said quietly.

"Oh," Gray replied, "I didn't know it was morning already."

Erza wrinkled her brow, "When did you get up?"

Gray looked at the clock, "A couple of hours ago, I guess. Why are you so early?"

Erza sat down with a sigh, "I've been having weird dreams."

"So have I," Gray said, looking back out the window, "I don't remember them, though. All I know is that I'm talking to some girl that I've never met."

"That sounds... pretty weird," Erza admitted. Gray looked at her expectantly, "I've been dreaming of someone I used to know."

"Oh," Gray said, looking out the window once again.

The kitchen door creaked open, and Natsu and Lucy walked in. Quickly, they made breakfast and started eating.

THEY had been here for five days already, and had found a total of 386 traps and curses. 125 were curses, and 231 were traps they had taken care of. The other 30 were traps they weren't sure how to deal with.

Every morning, Gray woke up with tears in his eyes. He wasn't sure why, but he was definitely looking forward to getting out of this house.

"Okay, guys," Erza said, "We only have a few places left to look. We have to search the attic, the servant bedrooms, and the foyer."

"But Erza," Lucy said, "Why do we need to search the foyer? Drake only ever puts one trap in a room and we found it our first day."

Erza looked grim, "But we never actually searched the room. And the moment we stop looking is the moment we leave one behind. Somebody could die."

"She's right," Gray said, "Let's split up. The attic is the biggest, so it should probably have the most people. The foyer is pretty big, but there's nothing but some paintings in there."

Erza thought for a few minutes, "Gray and I will search the attic, Natsu and Happy the servant bedrooms, and Lucy the foyer. When we're done we'll all come back here."

Everyone nodded, and started heading to their designated room. Gray and Erza walked up the stairs to the top floor, down a few corridors, and finally stopped at the end of the hallway. There was a floor-to-ceiling window with a comfortable window seat that Gray quickly sat in.

"The lever for the attic is around here somewhere," Erza mumbled to herself.

"Do you mean you don't know where the lever is?" Gray asked incredulously.

"Oh, sorry that I don't know everything about this house, Gray," Erza replied sarcastically.

"Sorry," Gray replied. He pushed up off the window seat to help her look. He took one step, and the tile he had stepped on sank slightly.

He heard two clicks, one that sounded like something closing, and the other was the latch on the attic's trapdoor.

"Well, here we go," Gray said. ~I'm so glad that wasn't a trap.~

GRAY. His name was Gray. The man she saw night after night was named Gray. It suited him. It made sense. His dreamscape was gray, and so was his personality. He was a warm gray though, not a cold gray. And soon, she would be free. She just had to wait for him to sleep...

"WHY did I end up with the stupid foyer?" Lucy grumbled as she checked behind the next picture to find, once again, nothing.

"Well, I think that's everything..." Lucy said looking around. Then her eye caught on the statue in the corner. "Oh yeah, I have to check the statue."

She quickly walked over to the statue, and looked at it. The statue stood there, hair bound behind a crown marked with the crescent moon. Her gown floated to her feet, and at her side was a large wolf. Slung across her back was a quiver of arrows and a bow.

"I know who this is!" Lucy grinned, "Its Artemis."

Gently, Lucy reached out and stroked her stone cheek. As she watched, Artemis's jaw dropped as if on hinges, and an oily looking gas leaked out.

~What's happening? Why is this... It smells nice... Like a summer breeze...~

"STUPID girl!" she said, a scowl on her face, "Why would you touch it!"

Cameotheron hissed. "What do you mean, she didn't know?"

He hissed again. "If she didn't know, then... Theron, I need you to bring her the cure! Take this to them first, then go get it!" She felt around for the things Theron had brought to her as gifts. In the pile, she found some paper and a pen. She quickly scrawled a note, and tied it to Cameotheron with a ribbon.

"Now go, go, go!"

"FINALLY done," Gray said, walking back down the stairs into the foyer, "It's almost sunset, I wonder if anyone else is finished."

"Most likely," Erza said, walking behind him, "They had much smaller rooms than we did."

"You're right. They're probably waiting for us in the kitchen," Gray said, looking away. He had been fine when they had left the attic, but part of the way down the stairs he had become nervous and jumpy. He just had a really bad feeing.

They got to the bottom of the stairs, and appreciated the way the setting sun colored the walls. The entire room whispered of elegance. It was almost hard to believe that someone who obviously appreciated beauty this much could be rotten to the core. Even if all the actual art in his house was of himself. He even had statues of himself. In a dark corner, something moved.

"My mistress is sick," said Horologium as he waddled out of the corner.

Erza and Gray ran over to Horologium. "Do you know what's wrong with her?" Erza asked with a worried tone as Gray gently pulled her out of Horologium.

"No. All I know is that she's been poisoned," Horologium replied.

All of a sudden, a slithering came from the shadows.

"Who's there?!" Erza asked.

Out of the shadows slithered a large snake with mottled black and gray scales. Tired around it's neck was a red ribbon holding a rolled up piece of paper.

Gray quickly snatched the paper, and unrolled it.

_People in the house-  
The girl has been poisoned with Soul Extract. I've sent Cameotheron to collect the cure, but sent him here first so I could warn you: Your friend only has an hour to live from the moment she inhaled the poison unless the cure is administered. It's very difficult to find, but Cameotheron will do his best. As I write this, ten minutes have already passed, and it will take Theron at least five minutes to get to the entrance hall. I hope your friend survives._

~Who wrote this?~ Gray thought, looking around for the snake, noticing that it was already gone. He passed the note to Erza.

"Hey, guys, I thought we were meeting in the- WHAT'S WRONG WITH LUCY!?" Natsu shouted as he came into the room.

"Mistress has been poisoned with Soul Extract," Horologium said, "I must return to the spirit world now." Horologium disappeared.

"If Lucy's been poisoned, Happy said with worry, "why aren't we looking for a cure?"

"Someone already is," Erza said, passing him the note.

"Come on, snake, find the cure."

"CAMEOTHERON," she said to herself, "Hurry. She needs you to hurry."

HE slithered into the blinding light of a store. As quietly as he could, he slithered up to a potion, grabbed it, and slithered into the shadows once again.

Time Skip- 40 minutes later-

Over the past forty minutes Lucy had grown paler, Natsu had grown louder, Happy had grown quiet, Erza had grown angrier, and Gray had grown stiller until he sat as still as the statue Lucy had touched. They were running out of time.

"We're not going to make it," Gray said to himself quietly.

"YES WE ARE!" Natsu screamed at him, until he deflated, "We have to."

The slithering noise came out of the same corner. The snake came out, slithered over to Erza, and opened its mouth, showing a vial filled with a golden liquid.

Erza grabbed the vial, and the snake slithered off.

"Drink all. Will cause drowsiness," Erza read. She quickly knelt beside Lucy and forced her mouth open. Erza poured the bottle slowly into Lucy's mouth. As the last of the liquid dripped down her throat Lucy's face drained of all color, and her breathing stopped.

"No," Erza whispered, eyes wide.

With a huge gasp, Lucy sat up as the color that had been drained from her rushed back. Erza leapt at Lucy and clutched her to her chest.

"I'm so tired... what happened?" Lucy said with a yawn.

"You were poisoned. Do you know how?" Gray asked.

"Um... I was looking for traps... and I was checking Artemis... and then the room smelled really nice... and now I'm awake," Lucy said slowly with another yawn.

"So the statue is poisoned," Gray said thoughtfully.

"I think we should all go to sleep," Erza said, "We'll talk more in the morning."

~But why would someone poison Lucy?~ Gray thought to himself as he walked up the stairs, ~Unless she saw something she shouldn't have...~

"HELLO again," the little girl in the gray landscape said.

"What go you mean, again?" Gray said, frowning, "I've never met you."

"You'll know in a minute," the girl smiled, "I name thee Gray. Remember our conversations."

Gray was instantly bombarded with all of their meetings. The girl collapsed to her knees, panting, "I don't have much time left. I'm trapped in a room somewhere in the house. I know that you open the door by touching one of the statues, but I'm not sure which one, and I'm not sure where."

"O...kay," Gray said, "I'll find you."

The girl smiled, and started flickering. Gray's eyes widened, "Why are you flickering? That's not how you've left all the times before!"

She giggled, "This time I'M waking up."

"I'll see you soon," Gray said as she flickered away and a real dream started.

"LET me get this straight," Natsu said, "We're supposed to mess with some art, and that will make us find a girl?"

"Basically. She says one of the statues is the way in, but she's not sure which, or where we're supposed to touch it, " Gray said, frowning and crossing his arms.

"But all the statues look the same! How are we supposed to tell which one it is?" Lucy said, frustrated.

"I'm not sure," Erza said, "I guess we go through all the statues one by one until we find it."

Happy sighed and looked at the ground, depressed, "But there are so many statues..."

"No, they aren't, Lucy," Natsu said, chin in hand.

"What do you mean, Natsu?" Lucy walked over to him.

"There's that one in the entryway. The one that has the poisonous gas in it," Natsu said.

"That can't be it," Gray said, "He never puts two traps in the same room."

"But there are already two traps in that room," Erza stated, thoughtful, "There's the poisonous gas, and the spike trap Lucy activated the first day."

"Maybe... Maybe the spike trap is a decoy," Lucy said, thinking aloud, "That way, no one would look for a second trap in the room. And if they did find it, the poison gas would kill them before they could find the girl! Natsu, you're brilliant!"

Quickly, they all ran for the foyer. They skidded into the room, and quickly crossed it, avoiding the gaping hole in the center.

"How do we open it?" Natsu asked.

"She said that you have to touch the statue, but, once again, wasn't sure where," Gray replied.

Erza looked at Lucy, "You said you knew who this statue was of, correct?"

"Well, yeah," Lucy said, "It's Artemis."

"Tell me about Artemis," Erza commanded.

"She's the Ancient Greek goddess of the moon and the hunt," Lucy said, Erza gesturing for her to continue, "She and her maidens go on an eternal hunt-"

"Maidens?" Erza interrupted.

"Y-Yes," Lucy stuttered, "W-Why?"

"Why does she have a group of maidens?"

"She made a vow to never know a man's touch, so her maidens did the same."

Erza smiled grimly, "I know how to open it."

"How?!" they all asked at the same time.

Erza grabbed Gray's hand, and pressed it to the statue's breast.

"W-What?!" Gray asked, blushing furiously.

Erza looked at him, "Count Drake was the kind of man who, when encountering a divine vow to 'never know a man's touch' would open his secret passageway by groping a goddess."

Gray felt a breath of slightly stale air. He looked in the direction it was coming from, and saw that the wall had slid aside, revealing a dark, black passageway.

"Now, let's go save that girl," Erza calmly stated.

**Review! It's so simple. The button is right there…**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N- I'm so sorry! Once school started, I had even less time then I thought I would have for fanfiction. So much work this semester…**

**The sister reunion is this chapter, although I'm really not sure you're going to like it… Sorry about the mini cliffhanger, but the chapter was getting REALLY long, so I separated it into two chapters, and that was the best place to end it. REVIEW, PLEASE! It fuels my extremely flighty muse, and convinces it to come back from vacation. **

**Please read my other fics, and support me. :) See you next Tuesday!**

**Disclaimer- Seriously. I'm not Hiro Mashima. Stop thinking I might be.**

Chapter 6-

**Gray** followed behind Erza in the near blackness. Lucy, Natsu, and Happy hadn't come with them. Lucy had stayed in case the passage closed, and Erza had sent Natsu to prepare a room for the girl they were getting. The only light came from the torch he held. The walls were dusty, but there was no mildew or mold, showing that the corridor they walked down was never overly wet.

~What kind of man would keep an innocent little girl locked up underground?~ Gray thought as he walked, ~What could she possibly have done to deserve to be treated like this...?~

Gray continued walking until Erza rounded another corner in a long series of them and gestured for him to stop.

He heard her gently knock on what sounded like a wooden door, "...Hello?"

"Hello," came the familiar voice from his dreams, "Is it you, Gray?"

Erza raised an eyebrow at that, looking at him with widened eyes, as if shocked that his story had been true. He had no doubt that she had believed him, but even he was slightly shocked that the girl was real.

"Yeah," Gray said, glancing at Erza, "and one of my friends."

"Okay," the voice said cheerfully from the other side of the door. Gray finally rounded the corner, to see the heavy iron and oak door, with a huge padlock on it, "So... are you guys going to let me out?"

"The door's locked," Erza called.

"The keys should be around there somewhere," the girl said, frustration evident in her voice.

Erza and Gray searched all over the alcove, but the keys weren't there.

"They're not here," Erza said with a scowl, "Do you have any idea where else they could be?"

"No," the girl sighed angrily, then muttered in a voice that they obviously weren't supposed to hear, "I'm so close... why does everything get taken away from me...?"

Gray sighed, "It doesn't matter. Ice Make: Key!"

A key, the perfect size for the door, appeared in his hands, and with nimble fingers, he unlocked it. He pushed it open, and walked through. Inside the room was another torch that he quickly lit, and handed to Erza. The room they were in was small, with only three things in it.

One was another door. It was made entirely of a metal that Gray had never seen before. The second thing was, thankfully, a ring with two keys on it. One of them was shaped exactly like the one in his hand, and the other was made of the same metal as the door.

The last thing was a small bookcase, with what were obviously journals on it. Erza walked over to the journals, and gestured for him to open the other door.

"Are the keys in there?" the girl called, her voice much louder this time.

"Yeah," Gray said, picking up the key ring, and grabbing the key made of the same metal as the door. As soon as he touched it, he felt his magic power start to slowly drain out of him, "Holy shit!"

Quickly, he grabbed the doorknob, and felt the drainage speed up. In shock, he released them both, the keys falling with a clatter.

Erza looked over at him, asking, "What's wrong?" at the same moment the girl called out, "Gray? Are you okay?"

Gray stared at the keys, "Something's up with this door."

Erza walked over, "What is it?"

Gray looked her straight in the face, "Touch the door."

Unhesitant, Erza pressed her palm to the door before jumping back with a curse, "Shit! That's Scurge metal!"

Gray stared at Erza in confusion. The girl called out hesitantly, "What's... What's Scurge metal?"

Erza scowled into a corner, "It's a specially modified kind of steel. The Magic Council developed it."

"What's it for?" Gray asked.

Erza looked at him, "You know those floating boxes they have?"

"Like the one they kept Jellal in?" Gray asked. At Erza's nod he continued, "They're made of Scurge metal?"

"No," Erza sighed, "Scurge metal is far stronger. It was designed to contain people or artifacts the Council deemed too powerful for those boxes. It was originally developed to contain Zeref."

Gray stared at Erza, eyes wide, "Then... Then why is she behind a door made of this stuff?"

"It's not just the door," the girl called cheerfully.

"What do you mean?" Gray asked, not sure he wanted to know.

"The whole room is made of this stuff!" the girl said, "The walls, the floor, even the ceiling. Only the air shafts aren't."

Gray and Erza stared at each other, the same question written on both of their faces.

What kind of little girl could survive in a magic draining room for at least two months?

**She** tapped her foot, slowly growing impatient, "Are you guys going to open the door soon?"

She heard Gray's warm, deep voice, "Oh, yeah, give me a minute."

She heard the rattle of keys, and then the sound of the lock being turned. The door swung open on screaming hinges, and she saw him. Having spent all of her remembered life in pure darkness, the torchlight was more then enough to see everything in pressing detail.

He had beautiful, inky-black hair, and brown eyes so dark they appeared black. He had pale skin and a dark blue mark in the shape of a fairy on his bare chest. He slouched with his hands in his pockets. As she stared, he raised one eyebrow, until he looked down at himself. He jumped with a gasp, and started looking around the room he was in, muttering, "When did that happen? It's a good thing Flamebrain isn't here, or I'd never live it down."

Quietly, she started giggling as he hurriedly pulled his dark T-shirt over his, followed by his white coat. He looked over at her when he finished, and held out his hand with a teasing grin, "Well, are you coming out here, or did I just go through all of this trouble to rescue you for nothing?"

Hesitantly, she placed her small hand in his large, surprisingly cool, one. With a nervous smile, she stepped out of the room, looking around.

In the room was a bookcase with multiple books taken from it, the door she had just walked through, and one other door. She and Gray were the only people in the room.

She looked at him in confusion, "I thought that you had a girl with you."

Gray nodded, "Yeah. She headed down the passageway with the books from the bookcase. Something about evidence."

"Oh," she replied. At that moment, they both realized that they were still holding hands. They jerked away, faint blushes apparent on both their cheeks.

A loud slithering came from within the room, "Cameotheron! You changed your mind!"

With gentle hands, she picked up the large snake and settled it on her shoulders. Gray stared at her with wide eyes.

"What?" she asked defensively, crossing her arms.

"Nothing," he said, holding his hands up in surrender, then grinned, "You ready to get out in the real world?

She grinned right back, "Am I ever!"

They started walking down the corridor, side by side, and it took several minutes before she realized they were holding hands again. It felt so nice, she didn't say anything.

~What is this? Why do I trust him? Other then Theron, no one has ever wanted to talk to me because I'm me. They've always wanted... Maybe he doesn't know about _that_. And like _he_ said, maybe once Gray learns, he won't want me anymore...~

They walked for several more minutes before the corridor started to brighten. As they continued to walk, the light got brighter and brighter, until it was stabbing painfully into her eyes. She had never seen anything so bright, and with every step it just got brighter.

Quietly, Theron hissed, and Gray looked over at her. He stared at her for a minute, before his face lit up with understanding, "It's too bright, isn't it?"

With her pained nod, Gray tugged her to a halt, "Stand here and let your eyes adjust."

As she did as he asked, she saw him start going through all of his pockets, looking for something.

Right when the light became bearable, he sighed, and shrugged off his coat. With a tug, he started taking off his shirt.

"Gray, what are you doing!?" she shouted, pulling his shirt back down, blush running rampant on her face.

Gray looked confused, "Taking off my shirt. You need something to hold over your eyes while they adjust, and my coat is too thick."

She glanced away, still blushing, "Oh."

A hiss that sounded suspiciously like laughter came from behind her right ear, and she crossed her arms in annoyance, "Shut up, you stupid snake. It's not nice to laugh."

Not saying anything, Gray pulled his coat back on and handed her the shirt. With care, she tied it over her eyes. The corridor seemed pleasantly dark now, instead of painfully bright. It was with a feeling of surprised happiness that she felt him grab her hand again.

"I hope you're ready to meet my team. You'll like them, despite the fact that they're all crazy," Gray grinned, "There's Natsu. He uses Fire Dragon Slayer magic. He even _eats _fire."

She giggled, "Flamebrain?"

Gray looked at her in surprise, "You heard that?"

She nodded nervously, and he grinned again, "Well, he most definitely is. He's rash, hot-headed, powerful... but, and I'll never admit this if you tell anyone, he's lots of fun to be around."

She looked at him with a tiny smile, "I won't tell. Who else is on your team?"

"There's Happy," Gray said, "He's an Exceed."

"What's an Exceed?" she asked with extreme curiosity.

"It's a... well, it's a flying, talking cat," Gray said nervously, as if he didn't expect her to believe him.

She nodded, "Okay."

"He loves fish, and he has a crush on this female Exceed named Carla, but she's not interested," Gray continued.

She giggled, "Who else?"

"There's Lucy," Gray said, "She's a Celestial Spirit mage, and she has ten of the twelve golden keys."

She whistled, ~Wow. Ten of the twelve Golden Gate keys...? She must be really powerful...~

"And then there's Er-"

"HEY, ICEHEAD! ARE YOU DONE IN THERE YET!? I'M HUNGRY, AND IT'S YOUR NIGHT TO COOK!" a loud voice echoed through the corridor, followed by a quiet, "Aye!"

~Natsu, and Happy...?~

"IDIOT! DON'T SHOUT DOWN THE TUNNELS LIKE THAT! YOU COULD CAUSE A CAVE-IN!" Gray shouted back.

She giggled again, and heard Natsu again, "YOU JUST SCREAMED DOWN THE TUNNELS, ICEHEAD!"

"SHUT UP, FLAMEBRAIN!" Gray shouted back, then looked over at me, "Sorry."

Still laughing, I waved it off, "It's alright. It was funny."

They walked around another corner into a room so bright that it hurt her through the shirt.

Gray looked around with a sigh, "Sunset already?"

A musical, girlish voice replied from their left, "Yes. You were in there a long time."

She looked at the girl, and couldn't help but feel jealous. This woman was beautiful. She had blonde hair, part of it pulled into a little cluster on the side. She had large chocolate eyes, and creamy looking skin. She was tall and curvy, with large breasts and lanky legs.

She knew she looked nothing like that.

"Who are you?" the blonde girl asked with a gentle smile. The smile scared her. Too many people had hidden behind gentle smiles before they-

"She doesn't know, Lucy," Gray said as he pulled her behind him for some reason. They looked at each other in confusion before stepping away.

~Of course. Pretty AND powerful. I should've known...~

"How can she not know who she is?" Natsu asked tactlessly. Lucy stomped on his foot.

"Who doesn't know who she is?" the most beautiful voice she had ever heard asked.

She looked up and was shocked at the woman who had just walked in. Only one word crossed her mind.

~Nechan...~

**Erza** looked around, absently noticing that Natsu was clutching his foot in pain.

"Gray," she said with annoyance, "Put your shirt back on."

"But-" Gray started, but was interrupted by the girl beside him that Erza hadn't noticed.

"Its fine, Gray. My eyes have adjusted," she said as she carefully untied Gray's shirt and handed it to him.

Her tangled red hair, somewhere between scarlet and the color of blood, reached to the middle of her thighs. She had unearthly pale skin, and brown eyes that were almost ridiculously dark and large. She had a silver locket on, a plain, flowy dress that reached her knees, and no shoes. Draped across her shoulders was a large snake.

Erza crossed the room, "Is this the girl, Gray?"

Gray nodded as he put his shirt on.

When Erza was about six feet from the girl, she stopped, "It's nice to meet you. Who are you?"

A pained look flashed across the girl's face before she whispered, "I was hoping you'd know."

Everyone looked confused, but especially Erza, "Why would I know?"

"Because you're Erza," the girl whispered, the pained expression back on her face, and her tone matched.

"I... I never got to Erza," Gray said as he stared at the girl.

"How do you know my name?" Erza asked forcefully.

"Because..." the girl said, tears running down her face, "Because you're my Nechan. Don't you recognize me?"

Erza requiped and held a sword in front of the girls face. What she said next caused pure agony to cross the face of the girl before she crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

"What do you mean I'm you're Nechan? I've never seen you before in my life."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N 1- Now, before you kill me yelling, "HOW COULD YOU!? I'VE LOOKED FORWARD TO THE SISTER REUNION SINCE CHAPTER ONE, AND YOU RUIN IT LIKE _THAT_?" let me just remind you that I said that that was only _most _of what I wanted to put in that chapter, but the chapter was getting to long. The chapter was _supposed_ to end where Gray's POV starts. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer- STOP THINKING I MIGHT BE HIRO MASHIMA! I'M NOT! I'M NOT EVEN A GUY! Besides, I would _never _do that to Levy's face. _**

**Erza** sat next to the bed the young girl was in. She had seemed pale earlier, but now that she had passed out, she looked like a corpse.

~Why does this girl think I'm her sister? I've never met her. And how did she know my name? Gray said he told her about everybody else, but never got to me. Why? Are they connected?~

Erza clutched her head between her hands, as if trying to hold in the headache she knew was coming.

The snake next to the girl shifted again, and hissed into her ear.

~That's the snake from yesterday... and he looks like Shadow... wait a minute... that is Shadow. So what's he doing here? Oh god, what is it about this little girl?~

Erza moved from the chair to sit next to the frail girl on the bed.

~What is it about this little girl that makes me want to protect her? Why do I have the need to hold her... to comfort her... tell her everything will be okay?~

Erza pushed the girl's hair out of her eyes.

~She's so small... so frail... I wonder how old she is. She looks like I could break her with a thought...~

Gently, Erza grabbed her hand.

~Why does it feel so familiar? Like I've sat at her bedside thousands of times, and just held her while she slept? Why do I feel like I'm supposed to kiss her forehead, tuck her in, and shut the door quietly?~

Erza stared at the little girl.

~How did she do it? Gray said there was no food or water in the room. How did she survive for two months without food? Without Water?~

Erza heard, as if from far away, the snake leaving.

~She... she needs me. Why am I so happy with that idea? Why do I just... want her to need me?~

The little girl's hand clenched around hers, and instinctively, she comforted her.

~I should go... The others are probably wondering where I'm at...~

Carefully, Erza pulled her hand from the girl's. The girl tossed a couple times, and rolled toward her. Erza noticed as speck of black in a pocket she hadn't seen earlier. Erza pulled a little black book from the pocket.

~This looks familiar... Why?~

Carefully, she opened the leather book.

**Dear Mai. Happy birthday! Today, you turn three. I'm so happy. When you were little, the doctors said that you wouldn't even get to be two. But here you are, you little trooper. Every day when I wake up, I come and see you. Do you know why? It's because I can't believe your there. I'm scared that I'll wake up, and you'll be gone. I'm scared that you'll have been a dream. I love you, Mai. You are my sister, my best friend, and I'm so thankful that you're alive. I'll always love you, Mai, and I promise that, one day, you'll get better, and you'll be stronger then me. Until then, I promise to protect you. I hope you like your present. Erza.  
**  
Eyes huge, Erza flipped quickly through the book, seeing her painstaking handwriting, and the beautiful pictures in the book. As she came to the end, she saw her mother's beautiful, curling handwriting.

_Hello, sweetie. As you've seen, your sister really loves you. Probably as much as I do. Happy birthday, honey. I hope you look back on this day with intense happiness. My gift to you is what the doctors told me after they visited the-  
_  
Erza felt the book slip through her numb fingers. With hesitant hands, she stroked Mai's cheek, "...Mai...?"

Mai, still sleeping, nestled into Erza's hand, sighing happily, "Nechan."

Tears started slipping down her face, "Mai?"

Mai smiled in her sleep, moving so her head sat in Erza's lap.

With one hand, Erza stroked Mai's hair, and with the other, she covered her mouth so that her gasping sobs wouldn't wake Mai.

A few minutes later, Erza heard footsteps in the hall, and even though she tried, she couldn't stop crying.

"Erza, what's wrong?" Lucy called in alarm from the doorway.

Erza shushed Lucy as she turned her head to face her, "It's..."

Lucy walked over to her, "It's?"

Erza looked her straight in the eyes, tears still streaming, but a huge grin on her face, "Its Mai."

Lucy's eyes widened and she stared at the girl, "It is?"

Erza turned a gentle smile on the girl, "Yeah. It is."

**Gray **sat in the kitchen and stared at Lucy, "So you're saying that Erza Is that girl's Nechan?"

Lucy smiled, "Yeah."

"And her name is Mai?" Gray asked.

Lucy nodded.

~It fits her. I can't believe she actually _is _related to Erza. That girl is remarkable...~

"Erza said we don't have to wait to eat for her. She says she's going to stay with Mai for a while," Lucy relayed.

"What I don't get," Natsu said, shoveling food into his mouth, "Is how she can even _have_ a sister."

"Obviously she never told us about her, idiot," Gray said.

"Aye," Happy said, rolling his eyes, as he too shoveled food into his mouth.

**-Time Skip: 2 Hours Later-**

Mai stepped silently outside, onto the cool grass. The moonlight shone brightly, but it didn't hurt her eyes. They truly had adjusted. After she had woken up, she had spent an hour and a half talking with Erza. They had both told each other everything that had happened since they had seen each other last, and the whole time, Erza had done what she used to do, and brushed her hair. At the end, she had braided it and fallen asleep.

Afterwards, she had asked Cameotheron to show her the way outside. She wanted to walk in the moonlight for the first time in her life. Theron hadn't come outside with her, since he was a cold-blooded creature, but he had promised to wait in the foyer so he could show her the way back to her room.

She took a couple steps farther outside, and just stood with a grin, feeling the wind in her hair, the moonlight on her skin, the ground under her feet.

"What are you doing out here so late?"

Mai's smile grew larger, and she turned to face Gray, "I was going to go for a walk."

Gray raised an eyebrow, "At night?"

Her smile dimmed slightly, "I've never gone for a moonlight walk before."

Gray smiled, "Mind if I come?"

Shockingly, Mai felt blood rush to her cheeks, "N-No. You can come."

In silence, Gray walked and stood next to her, "Wanna see my favorite place in the whole garden?"

Still blushing, Mai nodded. Seemingly hesitant, Gray grabbed her hand and started walking slowly to their left.

~Why is my heart pounding? What if he hears it and asks me about it? I don't know what to tell him!~

"You know," Gray said, glancing at her, "I never thought I'd say this about anyone, but I'm beginning to wish you were more like Juvia."

"Who's Juvia?" Mai asked innocently, yet feeling an intense wave of jealousy.

"She's a friend from the guild. She's always talking," Gray glanced over at her, "But you're silent. I've never known anybody as quiet as you."

"Sorry," Mai blushed.

"Hey, don't apologize," Gray said with a nervous smile.

~He wants me to talk to him?~

"My parents met on a night like this," she said with a faint, nervous smile.

Gray looked over at her with a curious look, "Really?"

Mai grinned looking away, "Yeah. It was my favorite story when I was little."

Gray smiled faintly, "Can I hear?"

With a renewed blush, Mai nodded, "At the time, my dad was 21, and a freelance wizard. There were these two towns, and in between them was this huge, old, untenable forest. In the forest lived this monster, and every month, it would choose one of the towns, and go destroy part of it. The people in these towns never knew which one would be attacked next, so they were always really worried.

One day, my father came to one of these towns. My father always said that if he had been in a guild, while not quite there, he would be close to S-Class.

So my father reaches the town, and sees all the destruction. The monster had come the night before and crushed lots of buildings. When he told the townspeople that he was a mage, they started begging him to do something about the monster. Which is when someone from the other town showed up, yelling that a mage had finally shown up and was going to do something about the monster.

The townspeople were talking to the guy from the other town, and my father overheard that the mage who had gone to kill the monster was a woman. So my father decided to go save this girl.

My dad trekked through the forest for hours, looking for the girl, and the monster. By the time he found the monster, it was nighttime. He had spent so long looking for the monster that he had gotten cocky, and he attacked it head-on. For a while he was fine, but really quickly, he started running out of energy. So my dad requiped into his fastest armor, because his plan was to run at this point. But when he turned to run, the monster swung for him. My dad said that he'd never forget anything about that moment. He said, 'There I was, about to run for my life, and I see this great old paw swinging for me. I knew, there was no way I could get out of range, so I close my eyes real tight, and just hope the hit doesn't kill me. So when I feel something person-shaped hit me from the other side, I'm pretty confused. I hear the animal's paw hit with the ground with this thunderous crack, and I finally open my eyes. Laying above me, her green eyes staring into my brown ones, is this 16 year old girl!'"

Gray laughed, "You're mom saved him?"

"Yeah," Mai giggled.

Gray pointed to their right, "See that gate right there?" Mai nodded. "That's where we're going."

A couple minutes later, Gray opened the gate, and Mai stepped through, looking around with wonder.

It was a small courtyard. There was a waterfall in one corner, and there was a small lake in the center. A bridge crossed the lake, and right above the center of the lake, in the middle of the bridge, was a gazebo. The entire courtyard was covered in overgrown rose bushes, but especially the gazebo.

With a huge grin, Gray led her over the bridge and into the gazebo, "So then what happened?"

Mai giggled, "Well, my mom yelled at him for coming into the forest. She thought he was a villager. When my dad told her that he was a mage, she got this questioning look on her face and asked him what kind of magic he used. He told her that he used Requip magic, and she asked him if he trusted her. When he said she wasn't sure, she threw off her cloak and showed him her left shoulder, where her Mermaid Heel mark was. He told her that he did, and she kissed him, and stood up. My mom used what she used to call 'Borrower Magic'. For a limited amount of time, she could use someone else's magic, but she had to kiss them. So my mom stands up, and she requips into my dad's Nightmare armor. And within minutes, my mom has this thing mostly dead.

At this point, the monster has stopped wanting to win, and just wants to run away. Since the monster was getting desperate, my mom yelled at my dad to run away, but he didn't, and the monster attacked him. My dad said it was another one of those moments he'd never forget. 'The monster swings at me again, and this time I Know I'm going to die. So I mentally say my goodbyes, and I allow myself one regret. I regretted not kissing that beautiful girl back. So I close my eyes, and accept my fate, when I hear this agonized roar from the monster. I opened my eyes, and see her yank my sword out of the monster's eye, and she says to me, "Are you okay?" I nod, and she says, "Good." And then she collapses into my arms. Which is when I notice the blood streaming from her head. I hadn't noticed it before because she had the reddest hair I had ever seen.' My dad grabbed her, and ran as fast as he could, which was pretty fast in that armor, back to the town he'd been at earlier. He told them everything that had happened, and they helped my mom a best they could, but it took her months to recover. My dad stayed with her the whole time. As my mom got better, they got to know each other better, and my mom fell in love with my dad. As soon as my mom was well enough to travel, my dad offered to escort her back to Mermaid Heel. On the way back, my mom asked my dad why he had stayed with her for so long. And he said, 'As I was standing there about to die, my one regret was that I didn't kiss you. So, I'm staying until I do.' And my mom kissed him. She used to say that falling in love with my dad, and leaving Mermaid Heel to be with him was one of the few things in her life that she never questioned."

Gray smiled, "Wow. If it had been my parents, that would have been my favorite story as a kid, too."

Mai smiled at him, "What were your parents like?"

Gray grabbed her hand again, "I don't really remember. One of the first people I remember was my teacher Ul."

"Will you tell me about her?" Mai asked.

Gray smiled, "Sure."

**A/N 2- This is probably more what you were hoping for, right? Lol, I really like this chapter. It shows how strong women in the Scarlet family are. Tell me what you think. See you next Tuesday!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N- I'm sorry that there wasn't a chapter last week! –cries a little bit- I was so busy, and then I got my eyes dilated at the doctor's and I couldn't see to type. I have so many fics going on right now that if I miss an update, I'm screwed. I can't just wait until the day after, because I won't have time. Anyway, I'm sorry!**

**If you read this chapter and go, "What! Is she tying up all the lose ends?" The answer is yes. I am. Not because I'm ending the story, but because in a couple more chapters, there will be a three-year time skip. (In order to make the ages workable instead of creepy, we're going to pretend the seven year time skip on Tenroujima never happened. Or at least happened later in life… I'm not sure yet.)**

**In this chapter I introduce a guild that is entirely of my own making. _Eternal Night._ No, this is not a dark guild. It's a legitimate guild. I came up with this guild with an idea for a fic that I fully intend to write once one of the stories I'm writing right now finishes. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer- O.o Do you still think I might be Hiro Mashima?**

**Mai **sat on the bench in the gazebo, knees tucked to her chest, wearing Gray's coat. They had been talking for a long time, although she wasn't sure exactly how long.

They had talked and talked about so many things that she didn't even know all the things they'd talked about. There was only one thing she still wanted to ask him.

"Gray...?" she asked hesitantly.

Gray looked at her, "Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?" Mai said, clutching her knees tighter.

Gray nodded, turning all the way to face her.

"W-What's going to happen to me? I was too scared to ask Erza..." she said, looking away.

"Fairy Tail is all about family. Even if you can't use magic, you'll still be a part of the guild," Gray said, grabbing her hand and holding it gently, "If I- Erza has to fight the Master himself to do it, you'll get in."

Mai smiled gently, "Really?"

Gray nodded. They sat for a few more minutes, and Mai noticed it was starting to get lighter outside.

"Gray... I think the sun's going to come up soon."

Gray looked at her, "Do you want to watch?"

Mai shook her head with a yawn, "I think that's enough firsts for one day."

Gray laughed, standing, "Good, because I'm exhausted."

Mai stood, looking at him with confusion in her eyes, "You would have stayed with me?"

Gray nodded, slightly embarrassed, "Well… yeah."

Mai smiled as she grabbed his hand, "Thanks, Gray."

He coughed, "No problem."

After they released each others hands, they slowly walked side by side back to the house in companionable silence as the sky continued to get brighter.

As they neared the house, Gray grabbed her hand again, looking at her, "Do you need me to walk you back to your room? You never walked to it."

Mai smiled, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks as she nodded slowly, "Y-Yes."

Gray smiled faintly back, "Okay."

Quietly, they walked into the house, up the stairs, and to Mai's room, where Erza was still sleeping.

They pulled to a quiet stop outside of Mai's room, "Thank you for walking me here, Gray."

Gray glanced away, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, "O-Oh, it was nothing."

"It meant something to me," Mai said in complete seriousness, "And thank you for believing that I was real."

Gray looked back at her, "How could I not? You're too unbelievable to be a figment of my imagination."

Mai blushed heavily as her eyes went wide, "R-Really?"

Gray nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets, "Yeah. Besides, if you're a dream, I hope I don't wake up, because then I'd never have met you."

Mai looked down, as her blush got even heavier, "T-Thank you."

She looked back up, eyes meeting Gray's, and totally on impulse, stretched up onto her toes, kissing him on the cheek. "G-Good night, Gray," she said, backing away into her room, quickly shutting the door behind her.

Mai leaned against the door, struggling to get her blush under control as she thought quickly, ~Why did I do that? Why did I _want_ to do that?~

Still confused, Mai crawled into bed with Erza in utter exhaustion.

**Gray** watched Mai close the door behind her with shocking speed, but not before he noticed her intense blush.

His hand rose to touch the cheek she had kissed, ~…what was that for?~

He knew one thing, though. Until he figured it out, he wasn't going to be able to get much sleep.

**-Time Skip: About Four Hours Later-**

**Erza **gently shook Mai's shoulder, "Mai, it's time to get up."

Mai rolled over to face Erza, a faint frown on her face, mumbling in her sleep, "Five more minutes, Nechan."

Erza smiled, and laughed faintly, "Alright, five more minutes."

She sat down in the chair that was still beside the bed, right where she had left it the day before. ~Didn't I drop Mai's book…?~

She looked down, seeing the book had been pushed slightly under the bed, still open to the page she had been looking at yesterday. With gentle hands, she picked it up, and reread her mother's message to Mai.

_Hello, sweetie. As you've seen, your sister really loves you. Probably as much as I do. Happy birthday, honey. I hope you look back on this day with intense happiness. My gift to you is what the doctors told me after they visited the other day. The doctor said that your magic channel was developing quite fast, and that it would be fully formed within six months. I was so surprised. You may even start using magic before Erza does! I know that you don't enjoy staying inside all of the time, but like young dragons, mages who start using magic very young or very late are typically scared into it, and all of the doctors agree that if you are scared into using your magic, your channel will overflow, and it could kill you. I know that the solution shouldn't be 'Keep you inside all the time', but I don't know what else to do. Honey, I know that you want to go outside, but just be a little more patient, and you'll be able to. I promise. _

_Soon, your father and I will be going on a trip together. I haven't told Erza, and I'm not sure how long we'll be gone, but I have an old friend who will be coming to watch over you. His name is Cameotheron. I knew him from before I even joined Mermaid Heel! Sometimes when I think about how long I've-_

Erza turned the page, annoyance on her face, impatient to continue reading the very last words her mother had written for either of them.

_-known Theron, even I'm surprised. Theron is ten years older then I am, so I guess that makes him… thirty-four, right now. Wow. He's old. Theron was my only friend as a child, and we made a pact that if something ever happened to the other one that we would take care of them if they were still alive, or their children if they weren't. Theron is also a mage. I know you want to meet mages other then your father and I. And I know that you want to meet a mage from a guild. Well, Theron is both of those! He's from the guild Eternal Night. They're extremely hard to get into. Even harder then Fairy Tail. Maybe he'll tell you some stories about when we were young and immature. Yes, Mai, I was young once. I love you, honey. I hope your birthday is all you hoped for, and I hope that you love Erza's present. I know that I did. Did you notice, one of the stories in here is the story of how I met your father? I thought that was funny, but your father said, "Well, of course it is. I was fantastic that night." He's a goofball, but that's why I love him. Happy birthday!_

Erza smiled gently, stroking the cover. ~Wow. I forgot how much I loved Mom. She was great… wait. Didn't she say something about Mai's channel developing?~

Erza looked back through the letter until she found it.

'_The doctor said that your magic channel was developing quite fast, and that it would be fully formed within six months.'_

~If it was supposed to be fully formed within six months… why can't she use magic…?~

**Mai** opened her eyes to see Erza sitting in the chair next to the bed, shock on her face as she stared at the book Mai had kept with her all the time, just like she had promised.

"Nec- Erza? What's wrong?" Mai asked, sitting up with a yawn.

Erza looked up, shock still in her eyes, "You can't use magic, right?"

Mai felt the blood drain from her face, ~She's not going to want me now. She knows. Is she going to lock me back in the room? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's not my fault!~

Mai nodded slowly.

Erza held out the book, "Read this."

Confusion written all over her face, Mai read out loud the passage Erza had pointed to, "'The doctor said that your magic channel was developing quite fast, and that it would be fully formed within six months.' Wait, if my channel is fully formed, why can't I use magic?"

Erza shook her head, "I don't know, Mai. When we get back to the guild, we can see if Wendy can do anything about it."

Mai nodded, ~Wendy… she's the… Air Dragon Slayer. She's a healer. I think that's what Nechan said…~

Mai bit her lip, "What if Wendy can't do anything? What if she can't fix it?"

Erza looked at her, determination shinning from her face, "Then we go to Porlyusica. She should be able to do something about it."

Mai smiled, "You really think so?"

Erza smiled with a nod, kissing her forehead, "I really do. Get ready, and come downstairs for breakfast. We're leaving today. If there's anything else you need from that room, tell me later, okay? We leave today." Mai nodded happily.

Erza stopped at the door, and looked back over her shoulder at her before leaving, "Oh, and Mai? Next time you sneak out, remember to give the boy back his coat, and not to talk about it in your sleep, alright?"

Erza left the room with a laugh as Mai looked down at herself, shocked to discover that she really was still wearing Gray's coat, ~Oh my… I hope Gray doesn't get in trouble…~

Suddenly, hissing filled the room, and Mai felt the blood drain from her face, "Theron! I'm so sorry! I forgot you were waiting for me!"

The hissing continued, and tears filled Mai's eyes, "Y-Y-You're not coming to Fairy Tail with us…? But… why?"

Theron hissed again, sounding sad. Mai nodded, crying slightly, "I know you want to be human again, and that you want to go back to Eternal Night and see all of your friends. But you promised that you would stay until I didn't need you anymore…"

Theron hissed one last time, and this time, it sounded less like a hiss, and more like words.

'_I know I did. You don't need me anymore. You have Erza and Lucy, Natsu and Happy. And you have Gray. I love you, Mai. You don't need me anymore, though. But if you ever do, I will be there. I promised Caitlynn. And I promised you. Goodbye, Heart.'_

Cameotheron's hisses echoed throughout the room, but the originator was gone. Mai felt the tears she had been trying to hold in fall down her face.

~Goodbye, Theron…~__

**Later** that day, Gray, Erza, Lucy, Happy, Mai, and Natsu were all on the train back to Magnolia.

Natsu was experiencing terrible motion sickness, and it was made all the worse by the fact that he knew he would be on the train for six more days.

Lucy and Happy were trying to comfort him and make it slightly better, knowing that his level of sickness would increase exponentially the entire train ride.

Gray was napping, still exhausted from staying up all night the night before.

Erza was reading the instructions for taking care of the Tiger Lilies, so that she could take care of them on the way back to Fairy Tail.

Mai leaned out the window, mentally saying goodbye to all she had known.

~Goodbye room where I was captive. Goodbye house, goodbye my own personal hell. Goodbye Theron…~ she thought, a mixture of sad and happy tears running down her face. Almost as an afterthought she added one more, ~Goodbye, gazebo. The first place I remember being truly happy. Maybe I'll come back one day…~_  
_


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N- I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I went through some really bad depression. It was so bad that I couldn't even stand to think about anything in a romantic way, and all of my fics were at a slightly romantic stage. I wrote a oneshot that sort of helped, called Tears of an Angel if you want to read it, but eventually, I went and saw a doctor. I'm pretty fine now, but with all the things I have now on my real life schedule, I had to change my Update Schedule. Stories now get updated bi-weekly, and on the same day every time. So, this story won't be updated until the Wednesday after next. Anyway, enjoy this chapter. I think that there will be only one more chapter until the time skip. **

**For anyone that ships Gray X Erza, I recently got a request fic for a Gray X Erza. I'll be sure to inform you in the author's note of this story when I upload it. **

**Disclaimer- I don't own Fairy Tail. And sadly, I never will own Fairy Tail. Unless Hiro Mashima dies and pulls a 'Westing Game', which I highly doubt is going to happen to me.**

**Mai **stepped off the train, looking around with excitement. This was the largest town she had ever been in.

~Wow. This is where Fairy Tail is…? It's so big,~ she thought.

"Are you ready?" asked Erza, a smile on her face.

"Yes!" cheered Mai.

Gray and Lucy laughed, grabbing the last of their things and putting them on Erza's cart, including Natsu, who was still passed out from the train ride.

They walked to the guild hall, Mai looking around at everything in shocked happiness, ~It's… wonderful! I've never been somewhere so big! This is so exciting!~

Eventually, they pulled up in front of the guild hall, and her eyes went wide enough to hurt, jaw dropping. It was huge… (**the guild hall they build after Phantom Lord's attack**)

"Come on in!" Happy cheered, flying into the building. Lucy and Erza followed, Natsu still passed out on the cart.

"Are you okay?" Gray asked, moving to stand in front of her.

With a visible swallow, she whispered, "What if they don't like me…?"

Gray grabbed her hand, "They will. I promise."

They walked into the guild.

Mai was instantly assaulted by the noise of the guild. It was loud, and a fight was going on. Erza was doing her best to stop it, but was slowly getting dragged in. Lucy had gone over to the bar to talk to a platinum blonde girl with a large smile.

Moments later, Gray was dragged into the fight by Natsu, who had apparently awakened when they got in the building. Looking around nervously, Mai stood quietly by the door, hoping she wouldn't get hit with anything.

"Hello," came a gentle voice from next to her, "Are you Mai?"

Mai looked over to see the platinum blonde that Lucy had been talking to. Hesitantly, Mai nodded. The girl smiled, "I'm Mirajane. Lucy says that you're Erza's sister. Is that true?"

Once again, Mai nodded.

Mirajane's smile grew into a beam, "Well, it's very nice to meet you, Mai. Welcome to Fairy Tail."

Mai glanced around before asking, "Um, is this normal? Why are they fighting?"

Mira laughed, "Who knows? But yes, it's very normal. They do this every day. Today's is going on stronger because Natsu, Gray, and Erza have been gone for nearly a month."

"Lucy and Happy went too," Mai reminded her.

"Yes," Mira said, "But they never participate in the fights."

"Oh," Mai said, still looking around.

"Maybe I should introduce you to the Master. This will probably be going on for a while," Mira sighed with another smile.

"O-Okay," she managed to stutter out.

They quickly weaved their way through the crowd and the flying items over to the bar, where they saw a little old man, wearing a crazy outfit (**from the first season. I like that one better**).

"Master!" called Mira as they drew near him. He looked up, "This is Mai. She's Erza's sister."

"WHAT!? ERZA'S _SISTER_?" yelled the Master. There was a sudden silence all over the guild.

Mai glanced back toward the crowd to find everyone staring at her, except for the one's who had been on the mission. They were staring at everyone else.

"Yes," Mira answered, pretending like an awkward silence hadn't just descended on the guild, "Her name is Mai."

"Well," said the Master, holding his hand out to shake, "I'm Makarov. It's very nice to meet you, Mai."

Mai blushed faintly, shaking his hand, whispering even more faintly then her blush due to her nervousness, "H-Hello, Master Makarov."

Makarov smiled, "So, are you here to join the guild? What kind of magic do you use?"

Mai looked down at the floor, unable to meet his expectant eyes and disappoint him. She heard footsteps, and saw Erza's boots, before hearing a vague whisper that she couldn't understand.

"Oh," Makarov said with a completely normal tone, "Interesting. So, Erza, how did the quest go?"

As Erza filled in the Master on what had happened, the rest of the guild mates slowly went back to their normal behavior. The hall once again filled with noise.

After everything was normal, Mira eventually whispered in Mai's ear, "Come with me."

Mai glanced at Erza, who nodded at her without pausing her conversation with the Master. Mai followed Mira.

Mira led her through the guild once again, this time to a door next to the door. She pulled it open, and said, "Go in here and wait. Wendy will be in here in a minute."

Mai walked through the doors, looked around what was obviously the infirmary, and eventually sat down on the nearest bed. She swung her legs in boredom while she waited for Wendy.

About five minutes later, the door opened, revealing Wendy, who looked nothing like she had pictured her.

Wendy was about her age, with hair only slightly shorter then hers. Unlike Mai's, however, it was a dark indigo. She had eyes the same color, and wore a gown with colored stripes in greens, blues, and yellows.

"H-Hello," Mai stuttered out, "A-Are you W-Wendy?"

Wendy smiled, "Yes, I'm Wendy. You're Mai, right?"

Mai nodded. Wendy walked over and sat next to her, "So what's wrong with you?"

Mai whispered, "I can't use magic."

Wendy nodded, "Okay. Any idea why?"

Mai shook her head, "No. I'm supposed to be able to, but it just won't."

"Okay, turn to me," Wendy said, turning and sitting cross legged on the bed.

Mai turned to match her, and Wendy held out her faintly glowing hands, slowly placing them on Mai's forehead. Wendy closed her eyes, and eventually, her face scrunched up in concentration. Mai sat without moving, hoping that Wendy could fix whatever was wrong with her.

As the minutes passed, Wendy's face grew more and more strained, until she pulled away with a gasp.

"So?" Mai asked, hope starting to slip away. She didn't feel different at all.

Wendy shook her head, "I couldn't fix whatever it was. I don't know what caused it, but it's like there's a wall in your channel. Something put it there; it's not natural. It's not permanent. Eventually, your magic power will wear it away. If you're in a very stressful or dangerous situation, it may act like a dam breaking. I don't know for sure. I'm sorry."

Mai shook her head, "Don't be, Wendy. Now I know that I'll eventually be able to use magic."

Wendy looked at the floor, "I just wish I could help you. You want to be able to do magic so badly, but I can't help you at all."

Mai grabbed her hand, "You have helped me. Erza said that if you couldn't do anything, she would take me to Porlyusica. Now I have things I can tell her about whatever it is."

Wendy looked up, a weak smile on her face, "Really? That's good. Porlyusica will probably know what to do about whatever it is."

"Really," Mai said, squeezing her hand. Wendy squeezed back.

Quietly, there was a knock on the door. Mira and Erza walked in.

"Hello, Mira, Nechan," Mai said. Wendy waved a small wave.

"Mai," Erza said, "You need to go with Mira again. She's going to give you your guild mark. I'm going to stay here and listen to what Wendy knows about whatever happened to you."

Mai nodded. Slowly, she stood up and crossed the room, waving goodbye to Erza and Wendy as she and Mira walked out of the room. They weaved their way, once again, throughout the guild hall, the guild mates, and the scattered remnants of the fight. Once they reached the bar, Mira gestured for Mai to sit down, and then walked behind the counter.

"So," Mira asked with a smile, "Where do you want it?"

Mai thought before responding, "Above my heart. Fairy Tail is my family now."

Mira laughed, "Very original! Now what color do you want?"

Unconsciously, Mai glanced over at Gray, and a faint blush colored her cheeks as she answered without thinking, "Light gray."

**Gray** looked up at what he thought was someone calling his name, but all he saw was Mai getting her guild mark.

~Above her heart…? Does that mean she already loves it here?~ Gray thought as a feeling caused his chest to expand.

The feeling was relief.

**Erza** sat next to Wendy, relief filling her, "So whatever it is, even if Porlyusica can't fix it, will fix itself naturally?"

Wendy nodded, a smile growing on her face, "Yes."

Erza smiled back, "That's good."

Wendy turned thoughtful, "But I got the feeling of danger from whatever it was. I think that the sooner you go and see Porlyusica, the better."

"What do you mean, 'danger'?" asked Erza with worry.

Wendy scowled for a minute, "I'm not really sure. I couldn't tell. But I think you should take her to Porlyusica-san as soon as you can."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N- Sorry, this was supposed to be out yesterday… -_-" **

**Anyway, this is the very last actual 'plot necessary' chapter before our lovely three-year time skip. JUST A REMINDER, THE TENROU ISLAND ARC NEVER HAPPENED IN THIS FIC! Anyway, the next chapter will be a montage of little moments in Mai's life that cover the next three years, and then we get to the REAL plot. That's right. The real plot. BAM. **

**Yeah…. Sorry for the ramble…**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. I only own Mai.**

Mai and Erza walked quietly through the woods, heading towards Porlyusica's home. They had sent word to her the day they'd arrived in Magnolia that they'd be coming to see her in three days. They had left very early this morning to be on time, since Porlyusica had told them to be there at seven o' clock a.m.

Finally, the two redheads arrived at Porlyusica's home, and Erza carefully knocked.

Moments later, Porlyusica answered, "Good, you're here. Come inside."

Mai and Erza walked inside and Porlyusica shut the door behind them. She turned to them and gestured to the two chairs in the room, "Sit down, I guess." Porlyusica herself sat down on the bed.

After the two girls had sat down, Porlyusica bluntly asked, "So, why are you two here?"

Erza and Mai exchanged glances, and Erza spoke, "This is my younger sister Mai. When I was taken to the Tower of Heaven, she was taken too, but as a magical sacrifice instead of slave labor."

"I don't sense any magic power from the girl, though," Porlyusica said.

"That's why we're here," Mai said quietly, "Wendy says that it's like a wall has been built in my channel, but she's not sure why."

Porlyusica gestured impatiently to Mai, "Come here, child. I can't examine you if you are all the way over there."

Mai crossed over and sat on the bed next to the healer.

Porlyusica gently placed her hands around Mai's head like a crown. They rested there for a split second before Porlyusica tore her hands away, "It's a good thing you came to see me, young lady. The wall in your channel is what we healers refer to as EMB, or Extreme Magical Blockage. It occurs when the mage is exposed to Scurge metal for a very long time. How long were you exposed?"

"The past ten years, Miss Porlyusica," Erza said quietly, worry on her face.

Porlyusica sighed, "Then you're lucky to be alive, young lady. EMB has no cure other then time. We will have to wait and hope that your magic power is strong enough to wear away the blockage in your channel before you die."

"Die?!" Mai and Erza exclaimed.

"Yes," Porlyusica said, "EMB is like a dam in your channel. Since Scurge metal leaches the magic out of whatever is inside of it, EMB develops to prevent the metal from taking enough to kill the mage. But once the subject leaves the area with the Scurge metal, their magic is no longer going to maintain the barrier, and in your case, keep you from starving. So your magic power just keeps building up behind your barrier. Now, in about half of the known cases of EMB, the magic power of the subject wore down the barrier and the subject was perfectly fine afterwards, even if they had an abnormal fear of Scurge metal afterwards."

"What happened to the other half of the subjects?" Mai asked, almost scared to hear the answer.

Porlyusica sighed, obviously wishing Mai hadn't asked that, "Too much magic power built up within them, and it exploded outward, tearing them from the inside, causing a death of pure agony."

Mai sat in shock as Erza's tearful voice said, "So my little sister has a fifty percent chance of dying in a magical explosion?"

Porlyusica nodded, "Exactly."

"Will... Will it hurt the people around me?" Mai asked.

"Most likely," Porlyusica said calmly.

Slowly, tears leaked out of Mai's clenched eyes.

She felt a hand land on her shoulder, and heard Porlyusica say, "You're a Fairy Tail wizard. You'll fight this. If it means anything to you, I think that you will be part of the fifty percent that lives."

Mai smiled up at her, "Thank you."

Suddenly, Porlyusica tore herself away from Mai and yelled, "Now both of you get out! That's enough!"

Erza quickly dragged Mai out of Porlyusica's house. They were about fifteen feet away from her home when Porlyusica screamed out, "I expect to see you back here once a month at the same time!"

"Yes, Porlyusica," Erza screamed back.

"Oh, and Mai!?" Porlyusica yelled.

Mai turned back and looked at Porlyusica.

"No one who ever got EMB ever survived longer then three years if their magic didn't break the barrier!"

Mai nodded and both girls walked to the guild. Mai was in shock.

~Three... Three years.~

When they got to the guild, Mai sat down, and Erza went and talked privately with the Master.

Mai wrapped her arms around herself, ~I might die in less then three years...?~

"Hey," Gray said, sitting down next to her, "You okay? You seem frightened. Did everything go okay with Porlyusica?"

Mai looked at him. She desperately wanted to tell him the truth, but she didn't want to worry him, "Yeah. Porlyusica couldn't do anything, but she said the cure was time."

~I'm not lying, technically,~ Mai thought, ~I'm just not telling the whole truth...~

Gray nodded, "That's good. So what are you going to do in the meantime?"

"She'll be my assistant," Makarov said, appearing at their table with Erza, "I could use some help with all the paperwork I get from the council because of you brats. You'll be getting the same salary as Mira, 100,000 jewels a month."

"But, Master, I'd do it for free. You guys are my family," Mai said honestly.

Erza spoke, "Mai, that's just enough for a room at the dorm. What he's really saying is that you live at Fairy Hills. Your 'salary' is where you'll live. You'll be relying on me for everything else."

"I'd still do it for free," Mai mumbled.

Makarov smiled, "I know."

Eventually, Erza, the Master, and Gray all left the table, and Mai snuck outside. She left the Fairy Tail building, and went to the edge of the forest, where she could be alone.

Finally, Mai let the smile she had forced onto her face when Gray had come over and talked to her drop. The tears streamed down her face, and she collapsed to her knees, clutching her sides.

Erza, Porlyusica, the Master... all of them had hope that Mai could beat this. They all believed that Mai could break the barrier.

But Mai... She didn't. She knew herself, and she knew she wasn't strong. She was frightened.

As Mai's body shook with tears, one thought kept running through her head, over and over and over and over, stuck on a loop, ~I've got three years or less to live...~


	11. Happy New Year

Hey!

So, my Great Month Of Stories didn't exactly work out. But it's all knowledge for next time! If I do a next time...

Anyway, I just want to take the time to say some things to you guys. You guys are awesome. You have made my life and year beautiful and exciting. You inspired me and showed me my limits.

When I used to wake up in the morning, I didn't really look forward to much, but now I look forward to a day of emails and PMs and reviews. I look forward to talking to you guys and ranting with you guys and making fake plans to go punch Hiro Mashima in the face for doing this to us.

You guys make my days. And every time I get an email saying someone favorited one of my stories, I get this big goofy grin on my face.

You guys really mean a lot to me. You encourage and inspire me to keep writing and to keep going. You guys have taught me so much. And I sincerely love each and every one of you. Even the lurkers that never review.

To date, I've published 132,401 words in 21 stories, and received a total of 341 reviews. I've only been a member since June (has it truly been that long?), but I know I love it here.

You guys are truly my nakama, and that's how I think of you all. You guys are really amazing, and I love you all.

Lets hope for another amazing year.

My New Year's resolution was to have published 350,000 words by the end of 2013. So that means I have to publish 217,599 words this year. Lets see how I do!

I hope you all had an awesome holiday season and continue having a great year!

My holiday themed oneshots will be out in the next couple of days, although the chapters for already published stories will just have to wait since school is back in session on the third.

I love you all!

No matter how far away you are... no matter how many miles lay between us... I'll always be watching over you. Index fingers up, my sweet nakama!

~HeirToTheShadows


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